Diabolic Edict
by Warp Ligia Obscura
Summary: Team effort between me and Accelerando. When a Reploid scientist invents "Yin energy", investigations reveal nothing wrong. Perhaps they should have checked more closely... Whoo! Chapter 12 up.
1. Prologue

Hello all. Remember me? Um, no?! 

Ok, so me and Accelerando decided to team up and write this fanfic. I'm not going to bore you with details and such, except that it's set between X7 and X8.

Oh, and by the way, flames are NOT appreciated, but constructive feedback/criticism are.

So, without further ado...

Diabolic Edict by Warp Ligia Obscura and Accelerando

-- Prologue --

The year... is 21XX.

We'd - that is, Zero and I, and some Reploid named Axl - had quelled the 7th Maverick Uprising some time ago. The Red Alert War, we later dubbed it.

In any case, the following months were not very eventful. Axl had taken leave after some time for... "vacation", Signas called it, but I knew the truth... as did Zero, of course. Axl had told Zero he was going to train alone, for some time, away from the rest of civilisation... he was, apparently, hoping that I would accept him as a Maverick Hunter when he got back if he honed his skills enough. Ha, as if! In any case, it looked like he got whomped on that mission he took recently... must've taken a huge blow to his ego for him to just up and leave like that.

Course, he didn't tell ME. What? How did I find out then? Let's just say my sneaking and eavesdropping skills are better than most people say it is...

Anyway. A few more months passed after that, with no real problems... Sigma hadn't reappeared for some reason. If I know him, a shot to the head is definately not enough to put him down... well, at least that means more peace for us. Of course, he'll return... sooner or later...

Then came the... um, presentation. Apparently it was some Reploid scientist who was presenting to us about some new form of energy. Not as in the common perception of a human scientist who researches Reploids, but rather a Reploid scientist who researches... well, Reploids... and energy, of course.

So there we were, sitting in the auditorium, waiting for this... scientist... to walk in. Apprarently his name was Lucifer, but that's irrelevant. Everyone was talking to everyone else about this new form of energy, even Signas. I was probably the only one who didn't speak, besides Zero... Zero was unnaturally quiet, probably due to a lack of people to talk to - he was very fierce around everyone else except me, and I wasn't speaking. However, he still kept fidgeting, which I found kinda annoying.

Then he walked in.

No, not Zero, the Reploid scientist. Zero WAS next to me, after all.

Everyone quieted down immediately. Good, I thought. At least they show some form of etiquette...

I took a good look at the scientist, and my image of a stereotypical scientist with a lab coat, probably coming on in years, and holding a walking stick, was shattered. Not like anyone would build a Reploid like that, but I digress.

I mean, heck. He looked more like some kind of... animated suit of armour. He didn't even have a lab coat!

So there he was, talking all about the advantages of his new form of energy... how a small quantity could power a million standard Reploids, how augmenting a Reploid with it could give him powers beyond comprehension... then, finally, he produced an energy capsule from behind his back, walked to the center of the stage, and placed it on the table there.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I call this... Yin energy."

Yin energy. I didn't like the sound of that much. Although I was sitting way towards the back, I could feel the... "funky vibes" radiating off it, Zero called it later... basically referring to the huge amount of power. Just looking at the capsule and the dark, shiny, purplish energy pulsing within it gave me the creeps, and I could practically hear ominous music start to play.

Hell, even Zero, one of the Hunters most used to such power, from himself or otherwise, seemed kinda uncomfortable. The Reploid scientist allowed us all to take in the sight for a while, and I could detect the slight hint of a smile on his face. Then he removed his hands from behind his back and gestured towards the audience. "Any questions?"

I was just itching to raise my hand when Zero, remarkably, did that for me, and stood up.

"Is it safe?"

I raised an eyebrow as Zero sat down again and folded his arms. Zero wasn't the kind of person to ask that sort of question... normally he wouldn't care whether something was "safe" or not. Then again, Zero's version of "safe" was generally very different from the rest of the Maverick Hunters.

The scientist smiled.

"My research has not extended to that point. However, I have tested it with a... live subject... and so far he is showing no changes, except for a surge in power and capablility."

Signas was obviously rattled from the whole affair. He obviously didn't think it was very safe... some days later I heard him conversing with an Independent Maverick Hunter, Accelerando, about the matter.

Accelerando, Accel for short, was an Independent Maverick Hunter, as I mentioned earlier, who refused to work in any unit and reported straight to Signas. I always thought he was kind of arrogant.

Anyhow, from the conversation I managed to figure that Signas was sending Accel on a mission to spy on Lucifer and make sure there were no problems with his research. Especially with the rumours flying around... it was a common rumour among city folk, and it'd spread to the Hunters, that Lucifer was building something BIG. I didn't care... lousy rumours again, after all, we always heard of such things from time to time, and it was never true... but apparently Signas took it seriously. He later told me that rumour or no, we MUST take precautions against Lucifer and the Yin energy... he said I should've felt it too. I did... I could smell war on the horizon... a war over the Yin energy... But a week later, Accel left on his mission, and when he returned, he reported to Signas that he could find no sign of a huge project or anything wrong or suspicious with Lucifer's research on the Yin energy. So I dismissed the feeling as just me being over-worried over Sigma's eventual reappearance, that I was expecting it much too soon. Thus, life around Maverick Hunter HQ continued as usual, right up till today.

We would soon find out how wrong I was...


	2. Shadow

New chapter... Note: This one takes place prior to Accelerando's inspection in the prologue.

-- Chapter 00: Shadow --

- UNDISCLOSED LOCATION, ???? HRS -

The figure, his face shadowed by darkness, finished the installation of the last metal plate. Screwing in the last bolt, he slowly stepped back quite a distance and looked up to admire his handiwork.

For some time he had been working on the 3-storey tall Reploid. He could all but feel the energies contained inside. Retreating to a control room, he pushed some buttons and watched as the creation was contained inside a pod.

After the pod was sealed, an engine fired up and launched the large spherical object into the sky.

Watching as the pod flew out of sight, the figure said, "Go, my fine creation. Go out and wreak havoc!" He proceeded to laugh evilly. They were so close at hand now... soon...

He then turned and started storing his equipment. No need to attract the Hunters' attention, now... 


	3. Awakening

-- Chapter 01: Awakening --

- ATMOSPHERE, 0258 HRS -

It was two days after the pod had been launched. The spherical object's engine was now beginning to sputter... it was losing some of its power. With this, it began a slow descent towards the ground. After a short while, the engine finally went out and the pod plunged downwards through the atmosphere, crash-landing somewhere in the snowfields.

- SUB-ZERO SNOWFIELDS, 0600 HRS -

Kardina Zendarquor trudged through the snowfields, sighing to himself as he adjusted his wolf-like helmet. His shackle boots clinked softly as he lifted them to walk through the snow. The necklace around his neck, with its blue gem, shook slightly in the wind. Lord Sigma had been beaten again by the Hunters some time ago, and Kardina had lost communications with his superior. It had been... how long HAD it been?... since he had been felled by the young Reploid known only as Axl. As he sifted through the thick snow, he observed a spherical object in the distance. As he came closer to the object, he could see that it was mechanical and quite big. Looking over it, he saw a set of buttons. Just before he could press anything, however, he observed a sudden flash of light behind him through the pod's reflective surface. Hurriedly rolling to the side, Kardina observed as the buster shot hit the pod. Kardina's advanced Reploid eyes took in the pattern of plasma dispersion from the shot hitting the capsule and identified it to be from a standard-issue Maverick Hunter buster. Kardina whipped out his dual KZ-Buster machine pistols and returned fire, before he was forced to roll to one side and hide behind a snow mound as machine gun fire dotted the ground behind him. He picked up one of the bullets and identified it as standard-issue Maverick Hunter bullets again. He flicked it away... obviously these guys were just rookies out on routine patrol.

Unknownst to Kardina or the Hunters, the buster shot hitting the pod had triggered off something. Inside the pod, a dark form stirred...

Kardina peeked out from behind the snow mound and counted his enemies. Five, six... no, SEVEN of them. Yep. Definately rookies. Seasoned Hunters rarely, if ever, carry out routine patrol missions in such large groups... heck, the best of the best even did it ALONE. He spotted one of them raise his hand to his ear, and realised he was about to send a transmission. He levelled his busters and...

"Azure to HQ, we've spotted... ARRRRGH!"

That was the Hunter's last scream as plasma shots from Kardina's busters tore multiple holes through his armour. The remaining six immediately started firing wildly, kicking up smoke and causing him to duck back behind the snow mound. He spotted another one making a transmission through the smoke, and quickly aimed a shot at his head, firing quickly before ducking down again. He heard a yell... Bullseye.

"Raid's down!"

"Damn it... we can't send transmissions now. This guy's obviously experienced, he'll just pick em' off! Terminate him first!"

Kardina stifled a laugh. Well, at least this one was slightly more experienced than the others, but... "Terminate" him? They would pay for underestimating him...

"Dammit! Where's he anyway?!"

"Search the area!"

Kardina heard the Hunters shuffle their feet, then begin spread out over the area. He darted out again and shot another one to smithereens, but another had apparently gotten a little too close, and he was holding a shock rod. Kardina instantly recognised the weapon; it was another Hunter weapon "reserved" for the rookies, but it was useful in melee combat as it was capable of sending an electric shock through one's opponent... which Kardina experienced firsthand as the Hunter's shock rod connected with his right shoulder. The electric shock coursing through his body, more particularly his right arm, caused him to drop the pistol in his right hand.

Thinking quickly, Kardina holstered his other pistol in his left hand and drew a dagger with his right hand, the blade pointing backwards, all in one smooth motion, just as the rest spun around, and one raised his buster to fire. He placed the hilt of the dagger to the Hunter's abdomen. The Hunter's mouth curled up in a smirk, but that quickly disappeared as a sword blade extended, piercing through his gut. Kardina quickly removed the dagger from the Hunter's stomach, kneeling to pick up the pistol he dropped at the same time, while using the corpse as a shield; luckily they were only standard Hunter-issue busters and couldn't charge, unlike the famous X's X-Buster, for if they could, they'd pierce right through the corpse and hit Kardina. Kardina then pushed forward with his legs and sprung at the second, discarding the earlier corpse, as buster fire connected with the ground behind him. He buried the shorter blade of his dagger in the second rookie's chest. He turned around and pushed the Hunter's body into the path of the rest's buster fire, where shot after shot made contact with the body before it finally fell to the ground. Kardina was about to attack another Hunter when an earth-shaking roar stopped him in his tracks. The remaining three Hunters ceased firing. They all looked towards the pod.

A large claw suddenly punched a hole through the hull of the pod and rushed for the nearest target. The unlucky Hunter's eyes widened, as the sharp claw pierced through his chest and twisted before withdrawing. Another claw took hold of the top part of the hole and used it to easily lift the top half of the pod, throwing it off. It was now that Kardina beheld the contents of the pod. He- she- it?... looked like a gargantuan, limbless Reploid. Its head boasted a sharp horn, and its eyes had an evil look around them. The Reploid had no nostrils, though it did have a set of sharp-looking fangs. Seeing this, the remaining two opened fire upon it, but it didn't even scratch the paint. However, the titan of a Reploid was visibly annoyed, and letting forth another ear-splitting roar, put it's claws together, and Kardina observed the two dark purple crystals in its palms glow once before a large ball of energy formed in front of its palms and an immensely powerful beam shot forth. When the beam dissipated, the two Hunters were nowhere to be seen... not a single bolt remained of them.

Awed by the power of the Reploid, Kardina started to back away from it. As he backed away, the Reploid looked around and spotted him. Kardina started at this. "What... what are you?!" He exclaimed.

The Reploid chuckled at this. "Put away your weapons, little one. You obviously cannot hurt me even if you try." As Kardina resheathed his weapons, the mechanical being laughed again. "Do not fear, little one. I will not hurt you if you don't strike me."

Though he was somewhat reassured, Kardina still kept his guard up, not putting away the dagger or the pistol. He repeated his earlier question. "What are you?"

"Ha! What I know of myself... is disturbingly minimal. All I know is that I known as Diablos."

"Diablos..." The black-armoured Maverick said to himself. "Why are you taking me into your confidence? Aren't you afraid that I would hurt you?"

"Little one, surely you underestimate me. As I said, your little weapons cannot do more than dent me. I have a lot of armour and I would easily have crushed you by the time you could do anything to hurt me seriously. Let us not talk of conflict however. Join me, little one, and I shall give you great power."

"Great power, huh? What great power could I get from you that I can't from Lord Sigma? Also, my name's Kardina Zendarquor, not 'little one'." Kardina had now taken a good long look at Diablos, and was convinced to put away his weapons. He knew Diablos was right- neither of his weapons would be able to dent it. Besides, Diablos did not appear to be attacking him anytime soon, and was wanted Kardina to join him. Judging by the Reploid's looks, it probably wasn't smart enough to do any backstabbing of the sort, unlike Kardina, and was probably sincere in it's request- as sincere, of course, as what such an imposing Reploid could be.

The huge Reploid raised a proverbial eyebrow at Kardina's mention of Sigma. "Sigma... Scanning database..." After a while of pondering, it found what it was looking for. "Sigma, former leader of the Maverick Hunter 17th unit, defeated nine times in the past. You are working with one who consistently fails, Kardina. Why would you follow such a person? Join me and your schemes shall never fail!"

"Hmm..." Kardina pondered this for a moment. Lord Sigma never WAS the type to come back very soon, and when he didn't want to be found, it was nigh impossible to find him, and hell would probably freeze over before you could... unless you were the Maverick Hunters. He hated to admit it, but given their sheer numbers, they could cover more land in a day than Kardina could cover alone in a year. Besides, he WAS kinda tired of wandering, and he needed to pass the time more... interestingly. Besides, the 'power' this giant proposed WOULD be a desirable side-effect... "You have a point there. Very well then, I'll join you."

"Good! Now, I need a staging location to build my army..."

"I know just the place. Follow me..." Kardina said, as he led the other Reploid towards the deserted Crimson Palace...

- SUB-ZERO PLATEAU, 0604 HRS -

A lone figure, eyes closed, was sitting cross-legged on the plateau with his weapon beside him. He would look like he was stoning to the casual observer, but upon closer inspection one could see that he was, in fact, meditating. He'd been meditating for many a hour already, in fact.

That is, until his eyes suddenly snapped open.

"What!! These energy signals?!... Impossible! Has it begun already...? This is sooner than I anticipated..."

The figure picked up his weapon that was beside him and began trekking south, towards the snowfields...

Maybe he SHOULD have cared about spherical objects descending from the heavens after all.

- SUB-ZERO FOREST, 0605 HRS -

"Accelerando! Accel! Do you read me?"

Accel raised an eyebrow. He'd decided to spend a couple days away from the Maverick Hunters for now... X and Zero were constantly bickering due to boredom, and the least Accel wanted to be was to be part of them. Besides, he needed a vacation, mainly due to said bickering, and he LIKED snow... so he decided to take leave and head north to the snowfields, where he was currently wandering. He ignored the fact that he was black-armoured with a red, slightly tattered scarf, thus making him stick out like a sore thumb amongst the white snow.

In any case, it was strange that Signas would contact him now. Signas rarely contacted Accel on matters NOT regarding duty- besides that time Signas told him to do an Irish jig when Accel was away on that other vacation, but X and Zero had later disclosed they'd made him drunk first- so Accel thought the same of this too... though it was strange he would be called back into duty now. It was peace time, after all- no wars, no Mavericks, no bald clown running around making life difficult, and best of all, no casualties... apart from all the times Zero injures someone. Come to think of it, those were pretty common.

Anyway, Accel raised two fingers and pressed a button behind his red demisemiquaver-covered ear and said casually, "Loud and clear, Commander."

"We've lost contact with a rookie group of Hunters on routine patrol in the Sub-Zero Snowfields up north at oh-six-oh-four hours. We want you to check it out. And before you ask, yes, you're the only one in the area, meaning your vacations cancelled."

Accel narrowed his eyes, ignoring the remark about his vacation. A group of Hunters, eradicated? This just had "Mavericks" written all over it. His voice becoming notably more stern, a change from his earlier casual tone, he said, "I'm on it. Independent Maverick Hunter Accelerando, signing off."

"Don't keep saying that-" were Signas' last words before Accel cut the transmission. Off-topic, he was fairly surprised Signas would care about him saying his long, long title at the end of every transmission, especially NOW.

In any case, Accel sighed as he began trekking further north, towards the snowfields.

"Goddamnit." 


	4. Seconds

Demented-Demon: Boss from before? Don't worry, Mr. Clean will return. Along with a fan favourite that has beenmissingfor some time now :P ...

Thanks to the three reviewers for your comments! Keep them coming!

-- Chapter 02: Seconds --

- SUB-ZERO SNOWFIELDS, 0710 hours -

Accel came to a halt outside the pod. It had a huge hole in it, he observed... Obviously something big had been here. Looking around, he noticed the dead bodies of the rookie Maverick Hunters. They had all been from the 4th Unit. It was a pity to see young, promising rookies go to their death...

Accel suddenly noticed a detail that troubled him. He trudged over to one of the bodies and examined it. It had been pierced by something large, probably a claw of some sort, judging from the shape of the hole. The body was only a few wires away from being completely detached from the legs. Did this have something to do with the former contents of the pod? Evil was afoot here, Accel was sure of that, and he didn't like it.

Accel looked around. He gathered up all the rest of the bodies and laid them together, before beginning to examine them.

"Hmmm... death by multiple plasma shots to the stomach and chest area... this is one powerful gun. Not pretty. Poor kid. Let's see now... this one... plasma shot, right through the head and beyond. Neural circuits fried... fatal. Even if he HAD survived, I doubt he'd be in fighting condition... optics decimated, audial circuits out... whoever did this was accurate. Next... death by stabbing, right through the gut... instant death. Another one... dagger wound, not nearly as deep, but he'd have died in a couple seconds anyway. Plus the plasma shots aggravating the injury..." Accel sighed and stood up. Then he noticed something glittering in the snow, out of the corner of his eye. He went over to it and picked it up.

"A Maverick Hunter Rank D badge? Odd, normally they'd have seven or eight people... but I only see five, and they rarely assign hunters of different ranks for routine patrol..." Accel raised his hand and sent a transmission back to the Maverick Hunters HQ. "Accel to HQ, requesting information on the rank D Maverick Hunter group on routine patrol in the Sub-Zero Snowfields."

A few seconds later, he received a reply. "Rank D Maverick Hunter group on patrol in the Sub-Zero Snowfields, lead by rank D Hunter Azure, 7 members, lost signal at 0604 hours, status unknown, presumed dead."

"They're dead all right... Accelerando signing off." Accel narrowed his eyes.

7 members... where were the other 2?

As he was thinking about this, he heard someone call, "Hey, you there!" As he was turning, the voice, now laced with a threatening tone, said, "You! Yin Reploid, stop right there!" He disregarded the threat and turned to face the caller. It was a swordsman Reploid with an oversized blade, which had a moon-grey hilt and was gripped in white gloves. He had blue hair and dark shades. He wore a light blue trenchcoat with matching pants that barely covered dark boots with a gold top. The Reploid, with a loud cry, started his charge at Accel...

Accel raised his sabre with a speed born of desperation, and managed to block the mysterious assailant's blow. Seeing his chance as the foe had to use both hands to wield his mighty blade, Accel raised his right arm and fired a shot at point-blank range, which forced the swordsman back. "Rarghh... I cannot be beaten by this Yin Reploid!" The enemy said to himself, before charging at him again.

Accel was seriously confused now. What was this new foe talking about? What Yin Reploid was he after? And why did he perceive Accel to be his target? Sidestepping the enemy's dash, Accel shouted, "Wait! Who or what is this Yin Reploid you're talking about? Why are you attacking me?"

"Stop pretending, spawn of Yin! You know very well that you are the Yin Reploid, come to bring chaos and doom to this world! I must stop you!" The opponent fished out a set of kunai and hurled them at Accel, who got a scratch from one of them. He now charged at Accel once again. Although still startled from the assailant's outburst, Accel recovered quickly and decided to counter instead. He said to himself, 'Let's go... time to go back to my roots." He cried out as a surge of electricity entered his left hand and started criss-crossing merrily. "THUNDERHAND!" With a shout, he thrust the hand forward into his foe's chest and let the energy course through the swordsreploid's body, paralysing it. The foe collapsed to his knees in defeat.

"Now, speak! Who are you?" Accel asked the foe, who was paralysed and unable to fight. Prodding him with an index finger, Accel waited for a reply.

The Reploid spat at him, and missed.

"Hm? Looks like I'll have to force it out of you." Accel placed his hand on the Reploid's head, his hand still crackling with the lightning energy. Immediately, another electric current flowed through the Reploid's body, causing him to cry out.

Accel removed his hand. "Feel like speaking yet?" The Reploid didn't answer.

Accel sighed. "Oooooookay, here we go again..." He was about to administer the shocking treatment again when he received another transmission... from Signas.

"Huh... this is Accelerando, Commander. I read you."

"Accel, we've lost another Hunter group's signal. It died out in the same way- sudden energy spike, then nothing."

"What?! You didn't tell me about the sudden energy spike earlier."

"We noticed it only later when re-examining the signals."

"Well, it might have been important!"

"In any case, we want you to check it out. Again."

Accel looked over at his... "captive". "Could you send someone else? I'm kinda... busy... here."

"Sorry, no can do. We're not sending anyone rank GA or below, too risky. Best to send a rank UH... and all of them are out on missions."

Accel's eye twitched. "What... KIND... of missions?"

Signas looked over at Zero, who was currently singing some old folk song and thumping X on the back, who appeared to be in depression and was downing another mug of beer, as well as the other rank UH and PA ranked Hunters "partying" in the background, as well as some of the lower ranking ones. "Ummmm..."

Accel sighed. "They're DRUNK, aren't they."

"Umm, you could say so..."

Accel facefaulted. "Fine, fine, I'll go check it out, but gimme a sec..." He turned and spoke to his "captive". "I'll force your secrets out of you NEXT time..."

"No, you won't!" The Reploid said, lunging forward as the paralysis wore off, but Accel gave him a third dose of the Thunderhand, though much weaker and meant to merely halt his assault. He collapsed again, twitching slightly.

"Curse you, Yin Reploid... I'll be back to make sure you die!" The Reploid said before stumbling to his feet and warping off into the sky.

"Well, that's that." Accel returned to his transmission. "Okay, so... What's the coords, Signas?"

"Um, well... another reason we wanted you to check it out is because it's the former base of the Red Alert Syndicate."

"WHAT?! You mean they've somehow risen from the ashes?!"

"Quite possible, if Red is anything like Sigma. You know the coords... just warp straight over."

"Understood... I'm heading over there now. Accelerando, signing off." Accel's face was grim. The Red Alert Syndicate, back? And attacking the Hunters? This couldn't be good...

"Goddamnit," Accel muttered for the second time that day, just before a black warp laser shot off into the sky.


	5. Red Zone

-- Chapter 03: Red Zone --

- CRIMSON PALACE, 0722 HRS -

Accel arrived at the derelict palace/fortress. "Sure hasn't changed much since X, Zero and Axl thrashed the place..."

Accel looked around. No sign of Red, his generals, or any Mavericks in the vicinity. Still, he kept his guard up...

Walking forward cautiously, Accel suddenly felt his foot make contact with something. He looked down and found a Reploid body, lying face downwards. Flipping the body over, Accel identified the dead Reploid as a Maverick Hunter alright. It was easy to identify them because of the Maverick Hunters badge. Furthermore... "Rank GA?! A rank GA patrol group getting wiped out by Red's generals?! Something's fishy here..."

Accel left the body behind and moved forward a little more, finding a rather rusty gate... it was open. He strode through it, into the courtyard of Red's Palace. There, having a good look around, he spotted three more bodies... one to his right, one right smack in the middle and one was slumped against a pile of rubble off to his left.

Accel turned right and examined that body first. "A large claw wound... like the one I saw in the snowfields..." Accel then headed around to the other side and examined the body slumped against the debris. "Whoa! This one's a nasty dent, now." Indeed, "dent" was an understatement. "Armour completely caved in... must have sustained repeated hits from a large blunt object..."

Then Accel walked to the middle of the courtyard, kneeled down and examined the body there. "A single hole through the chest... pierced the heart. It's a really clean hole... like complete varporisation..." He shuddered. Vaporisation was definitely something he didn't want to think of now.

Accel rose to his feet. looked at the other two bodies in turn, than stared at the body at his feet. "None of Red's generals have this kind of capability, or any Maverick to date... we're dealing with something much larger here... ?!"

Accel's head snapped up and he sprang to his feet, immediately on guard as he heard a creaking noise. Then, the doors to Red's palace in front of him began to open. A Reploid with a wolf-like helmet and black armour stepped out. Then there was a rumbling sound as the wall ABOVE the door collapsed, revealing a Reploid, who was... tall... as a matter of fact, "tall" was also an understatement. The... construct... was nothing short of GIGANTIC. It stood... two, three stories tall? probably three... and Accel had no doubt this was probably the being who'd caused the deaths of the Hunters here in the snowfields.

The reploid with the wolf-like helmet spotted Accel's badge and immediately adopted a fighting stance, with a simple exclamation, "Filthy Hunters...!" when suddenly the giant Reploid behind him said, "I'll take care of this, little one..."

Accel backed up a little as the Reploid floated forward and the other black-armoured one relaxed a little. Accel narrowed his eyes. He quickly dodged, jumping backwards, as the Reploid lifted his claw and slammed the blunt end into the ground where he had been standing a moment before, creating a huge crater. Looking up, Accel yelled, "What are you?!"

He heard a rumbling sound from within the Reploid before it answered. "My name is Diablos, and the little one is Kardina... Remember that, for those will be the last names you hear, pathetic fool!" Diablos' other claw shot forward with lightning speed, much faster than Accel anticipated, who barely managed to dodge to the side.

"Damn it...!" Accel than raised his buster and pumped shot after shot into Diablos' armour, but it produced nary a scratch, and only served to irritate the large Reploid. It's gigantic mouth opened and it let forth a roar, showing rows upon rows of sharp fangs. It then raised its two claws, and the black crystal embedded in it's right palm flashed once before shooting forth a laser. Accel cartwheeled to the side using one hand, while shooting at the giant with the other. It was still futile.

"What the-" Accel was cut short as the two claws lifted up and attempted to pincer him between them, but it didn't work as Accel was too fast and leaped, causing the two claws to crash into each other, and Accel to land neatly in the palm of one.

"Game over." Accel drew his blade and stabbed at the black crystal with all his might, only to find that his blade glanced off it as if it were nothing. "WHAT?!... ARGHHH!!" Accel screamed in pain as the claw he was standing on was suddenly engulfed by a black flame, leaving him severely weakened. Diablos then turned his claw over and dumped Accel onto the ground.

"No... way... what-" Accel tried to stand up, barely stumbling to his feet, when the claw slammed down on his back again, knocking him to the ground. ".....uhhh... what... damn..." Accel's functions slowly shut down, but he was merely knocked out.

"Shall we dispose of this one now, master?" the wolf-helmeted Reploid asked the titan.

"No... Let's see... Shadowsong "Accelerando" Wily... yes... he has potential, and considering his Wily-bot background... no, we shall not retire him. He may be... useful to us, yes..." The huge Reploid said, and grinned, showing off his white teeth again. He brought his claws together, and purple lines began to form around Accel inanimate form, encasing him in an icosahedron shape, before there was a flash of purple light and Accel's body could be seen trapped in the icosahedron.

Laughing evilly, the two Reploids turned and headed back into the depths of the palace...

- MAVERICK HUNTERS HEADQUARTERS, 0729 HRS -

Back at the Maverick Hunters HQ, Alia turned to Signas. "Um, Commander..."

Signas slapped his hand to his face and sighed. "No, don't tell me..."

"Um... we've lost Accel's signal..."

"Nooooooo..." Signas started banging his head on the table.

"But it's a little different from before."

"Hm?" Signas looked up.

"While the others had a huge energy spike just before they deactivated, Accel's had a smaller energy spike around 6 to 7 seconds before he conked out, and appears to have survived for a while after that..."

Signas stroked his chin. "Hmm... We'll look into that later. For now..."

"Do we have to send another squad after him?"

Signas sighed. "One more try... I guess. Send a bunch of rank GA Hunters, 9 of them... we can't afford any more or any less."

"Very well, Commander..."

As Alia returned to her work, Signas considered banging his head on the desk again, but research had proven that dents in the head weren't very good for the neural circuits, so he decided against it.

Instead he turned to large amounts of caffeine.

- CRIMSON PALACE, 0733 HRS -

"Okay, guys! Move out!"

The 9-member Hunter group moved into the courtyard, all on full alert.

From just inside the doors of the palace, a black-armoured Reploid observed their actions, and put a hand up to his ear.

"Master, they are coming."

Diablos grinned. "I'll let you dispose of them this time..."

"What will you do, Master?"

"I'll watch..."

Outside, the 9-member Hunter group were about to advance into the palace.

"No sign of that Hunter's body?"

"Nope, only these few."

"Are they repairable?"

"Yeah, the doctor's a genius... two of them are repairable at least, they just need a spare heart and the other sustained multiple structural fractures, as well as a lot of disconnected circuits... but he's up to it."

"Good, you two take em' back. Be back in 10 seconds!"

"Yes, sir!"

10 seconds later...

"We're back, sir!"

"Very good! NOW we can advance into the palace."

The group advanced into the dark, unlit hallway. They'd only moved a few paces when suddenly the light came on, surprising them. They spotted Diablos and Kardina at the far end.

"Who're you two...?!"

Kardina smirked. "You do not need to know that."

"...Team, fire at will!"

The group immediately began firing with their busters and pistols. Diablos quickly put up a shield as Kardina ducked behind a pillar. He unsheathed his two daggers. The Hunters stopped firing momentarily. Kardina popped out from behind the pillar and threw both daggers at the nearest enemy. The considerably more experienced Hunter managed to shoot both daggers out of the air with his buster, but was soon felled by a barrage of plasma shots from the KZ-Busters. Kardina then ducked behind another pillar. He stole a peek then cartwheeled from behind one pillar to behind another without using his hands, and firing at the Hunters with his KZ-Busters all the time. He managed to get another one through the head, and one more through the leg.

"We're two down!" yelled a Hunter. Kardina picked off the one with the injured leg, then dashed across the hall, holstering his pistols and picking up both daggers, before jumping from pillar to pillar, closing the gap between him and the Hunters. He tried to slash one, but he was unexpectedly fast and managed to dodge before shooting Kardina in the left arm.

"...Ugh!" Kardina grimaced and fell back, hiding behind one of the pillars again, but this time the Hunters were more ready.

"Okay team! Cyclone formation!"

The group of Hunters scattered and took up their positions in such a way that they were covering the four sides of the room, using the pillars in such a way that they were only vulnerable from two directions, behind and in front of them. Behind there would be another Hunter covering, and in front would be a stretch where the enemy would also be vulnerable to buster fire. The remaining two Hunters were free to move as they pleased, so Kardina's fighting space had now been reduced to only the center arena.

Kardina moved to the side corridors of the room, but he found a shot from a buster waiting for him, striking him in the chest. "Hunter scum...!" Kardina returned to the center, but found two more Hunters who immediately whirled around and started firing. One ceased firing and drew his beam sabre, which Kardina countered with his twin daggers, quickly bringing out the sword blade. After dancing with the Hunter in a flurry of blades for a while, Kardina managed to fell him, but he did not do so unscathed; he had gotten a minor scrape in the right shoulder.

The second Hunter then took out his other weapon that had been behind his back. It was a sledgehammer. Kardina laughed. "You'll never hit me with such a clumsy weapon, fool!"

The Hunter swung the hammer at him without saying a word. Kardina ducked the swipe aimed at his head, then sprung forward, only to find that the Hunter was swinging the hammer downwards, having predicted where Kardina would be moving. Thinking fast, Kardina leaped and landed on the hammer. The Hunter took hold of one end of the sledgehammer and lifted it up with a mighty shout, causing Kardina to fly up and over his head and also sustain an injury to his back as the head of the sledgehammer caught him. Kardina landed with a thump on the floor and looked up. His eyes widened as he saw the Hunter about to smash the hammer onto him. He rolled out of the way just in time and stabbed the Hunter in the leg, crippling him, before jumping away and punched a few holes into the Hunter's body with his daggers. His screams alerted the four remaining ones to his death.

"Team! Inferno formation!" The four Hunters took out their melee weapons - a scythe, a hand-axe, a normal sword and double daggers - and encircled Kardina while closing in on him. Kardina sheathed his daggers and drew his KZ-Busters again, firing at the dagger wielder, who managed to deflect all of them. Two of the Hunters opposite from each other- the dagger wielder and the sword wielder- rushed forward and tried to strike Kardina with their weapons. Kardina dodged, but he looked up to see a scythe swinging at him. He received a nasty gash on the chest, but he also felled the scythe wielder, jumping up and slitting his throat before bringing out the sword blade and stabbing him through the heart. Kardina then whirled around as the sword wielder stabbed at him. He jumped and quickly threw his knife, nailing the Hunter in the head. Then he spun in mid-air and threw his other knife at the axe-user, who blocked it, but then soon died to plasma shots from the KZ-Buster. He then landed and turned round to face the dagger wielder, who was undoubtedly the leader. The Hunter snorted, dropped his daggers, and drew his own buster. Then began a fierce firefight between the two. Both consistently used the pillars to avoid each others shots, and both sustained multiple hits. There was no clear winner for a while until Kardina finally gained the upper hand and shot the Hunter through the heart.

Kardina spat on the Hunter's dead body and retrieved his two knives. Diablos finally spoke. "Good job, Kardina... you have much potential."

"Thank you, master." Kardina bowed his head and the two moved through the castle again, towards the inner sanctum...

- MAVERICK HUNTER HEADQUARTERS, 0747 HRS -

Alia turned to Signas. "Um..."

"They're gone, aren't they."

"Yeah. No energy spike this time though..."

"In any case, looks like we're going to have to send the crimson devil himself..."

- ANADE FOREST, 0749 HRS -

A certain red Hunter was slashing through the vegetation, feeling bored, when he suddenly received a transmission.

"HQ to Zero..." 


	6. Zero

-- Chapter 4: Zero --

- CRIMSON PALACE, 0800 HRS -

Deep in the bowels of the Crimson Palace, a bright flash of light then cut itself off. Out of the light stepped yet another set of Reploids, and the Reploid-making system was already working on more forces for Diablos' army.

Within Diablos' inner sanctum, Kardina prostrated himself in front of Diablos and said, "Master, another set of the soldiers has been successfully completed. Within 3 days, we shall have enough forces to take over the nearest city."

"This bodes well, Kardina. Indeed, choosing you was not a wrong decision. I-"

Before Diablos could finish his sentence, a klaxon was set off. A screen turned on and revealed the form of Zero. "Zero Wily, former Maverick turned Maverick Hunter, carrier of the Wily Virus, self-proclaimed master in sword-fighting," the massive Reploid rattled off.

"Master, I request your permission to take on this former Wilybot and teach him that he should never have defected," Kardina asked.

"Bold words, but still, you may go," Diablos said.

"Thank you, master," Kardina said as he got up and left the room.

-0802 hours, CRIMSON PALACE-

Zero walked through the courtyard of the Crimson Palace, having noticed the dead bodies of the GA-ranked Hunters as well. "Rank GA... And they still got killed... Accelerando, who was a fellow UH, also went missing here... I suppose Signas was right in sending me here..." As he pondered, he noticed a black flash out of the corner of his eye. Changing his focus from the dead bodies, he drew and ignited the Z-Sabre, which came to life with its customary hum as the green energy blade rose from the hilt. "Who's there?" he shouted.

Kardina strode towards him from his six. "Zero Wily. We have been... expecting you."

Zero whirled around. "You, then, are the one who killed these Hunters and captured Accelerando?" Zero spat.

"Oh, the capture of Accelerando, your dear little younger brother, oh, that would be too great a honour to claim as my own. However, I have bodies of some of your Hunters. Want them? All GA-ranks."

At this, Zero seethed with anger. "How could such a pathetic Reploid like you even beat them? You must be lying! And what is this about Accelerando being my brother?!"

"You never knew, then? You never knew that Accelerando was originally named Shadowsong Wily, built by a great-great-grandson of the doctor, based off Elec Man, Quick Man, and partially off Proto Man? He never did tell you, did he? And you, are denying your heritage! Leaving the Maverick ranks... Joining the Hunters... All against your past!"

"So? Why would you want to resist the Hunters? What do you have against them?"

"Hmph! As if you want to know..."

"This would go against my character, but since X decides to be a pansy, I might as well ask you why you want to fight against us! Speak, or..."

"Or you'll what?" Kardina chuckled at the thought. "Well. The name is Kardina Zendarquor, follower of the late Lord Sigma. I was originally a bodyguard Reploid, serving a family that lived in the city under Sky Lagoon. The day the Lagoon fell, I was out running an errand, and returned to find the house crushed by the Lagoon. Looking around, I noticed that dear leader of the 17th Unit, Mega Man X, warping off, as well as various Repliforce troops running around. It was then that I decided that the Hunters were my enemy."

"Wait, you don't understand! Repliforce was not responsible, it was-"

"Enough talk already! Shall we battle?"

Kardina drew his pistols and, as usual, began firing at Zero. The Hunter grinned and flicked a hidden switch on his saber, activating the Tenkuuha he'd acquired from the Repliforce Incident, and cleaved all the plasma bullets in two. Kardina decided to change strategies and drew his twin daggers, activating the sword blades. He then rushed at the crimson devil with a cry. Zero flicked the switch and deactivated the Tenkuuha, then brought his sword to his side. It began to blow orange.

"Shoenzan!" Zero shouted as he brought his blade up in a deadly uppercut. The flames carried Kardina into the air. Zero then brought his blade to his side again, and it glowed even brighter. Zero bent his legs and then powerfully sprung into the air, his blade engulfed in fire, executing the Ryuenjin, another technique he had learnt during the Repliforce Incident.

As he shot upwards towards Kardina, Kardina quickly flipped in mid-air, recovering, and blocked the blade with his daggers, though he was still singed from the heat. He used the momentum from Zero's upward thrust to flip away and dash under Zero, as he ceased the assault and landed. Kardina drew a KZ-Buster again and fired at the Hunter, thinking he wouldn't be able to guard against it, but suddenly Zero shouted, "Guard Shell!" A sphere of energy encircled him as the plasma shots made contact with it and dissipated.

Kardina returned to using both daggers and adopted a defensive stance. Zero turned around to fact Kardina and grinned - then he sheathed the Z-Sabre. He then stretched his arms out and two daggers warped into his hands- the V-Hangar, acquired recently from the Red Alert War. Zero, too, adopted a defensive stance and grinned. "So, you ready to dance with the devil himself?"

For a couple seconds, neither combatants moved. Then, suddenly, both rushed forward at the exact same time. Their blades clashed again and again; but while Zero had only recently acquired the V-Hangar, Kardina had been using his beloved daggers all his life. The more experienced Kardina eventually gained the upper hand and dealt Zero a gash across the chest. Zero stepped back and blinked, then put his daggers together; with a bright flash of light, they formed into a boomerang. Zero drew it back, and with a great cry of "Souenbu!" hurled the boomerang forward. Kardina cartwheeled to the side at the last moment and the boomerang missed... but it never returned to Zero, for it had warped out and Zero was holding yet another weapon in his hand. "Ready to taste D-Glaive? Suiretusen!" Zero stabbed forward with the weapon, which generated an energy burst. Kardina, however, avoided the attack easily by jumping. He landed on the glaive, jumped, twirled in mid air, and dealt Zero another slash across the back.

"Grrr...! Okay, that's it. No more games!" The D-Glaive warped out as Zero drew his trademark Z-Sabre and the green blade hummed to life. "Time for you to face the full fury of hell!" With a great battle cry, the crimson Hunter rushed at Kardina, as Kardina chanted something. Kardina was about to retort, but he couldn't- he was too busy collecting flames in his mouth. He then shot out a flaming projectile at Zero, who did a little hop and activated the F-Splasher. He did not realise that the flaming projectile would pass through his ice shield however, and only found this out when the searing pain coursed through his body. This did not deter him, however, and instead it spurred him on.

"I knew Magma Dragoon, kid, and you're certainly no Dragoon!" yelled Zero as his Z-Sabre clashed with Kardina's daggers. The Hunter's single sabre was surprisingly faster than Kardina's two daggers- it darted around, searching for an opening, and it scraped his armour more than once or twice. Suddenly, Kardina sheathed a dagger, and darting to the side to avoid Zero's stab, placed his hand on Zero's armour.

"In Corp! HARM!" Kardina yelled as potent energy flowed through his body into Zero's. Zero let out a cry of pain, dropping his saber and dropping to his knees. As Kardina removed his hand, he drew back his dagger to deliver a fatal stab to Zero's back. "You're finished, Hunter scum!"

"Not quite..." came Zero's dangerously quiet voice as Kardina realised, a little too late, that his fist was shining with energy. Even as Kardina plunged his dagger forward, he knew that he wasn't going to make it...

"RAKUHOUHA!!!" Zero yelled out and plunged his energy-charged fist into the ground. A blue aura appeared around him, deflecting Kardina's blade, before an energy ball slammed into his feet, knocking him off balance, and another one slammed into his abdomen, carrying him upwards. Eventually it dissipated, and Kardina fell heavily to the ground. Zero stumbled to his feet when he suddenly felt a searing pain in his right shoulder. He found a dagger embedded in it- Kardina had thrown the dagger at him, and was still on his feet.

"Hahahaha... HAHAHAHA!!!" Zero broke out into laughter. Kardina looked on in

amazement. Had the Hunter finally lost it?

"What's so funny, you filthy Hunter?"

"So, you still in fighting condition?" Zero's voice was strangely venomous.

He pulled the dagger out and threw it back at Kardina, who managed to catch it. Zero cracked his knuckles, then picked up the Z-Sabre. He then charged at Kardina again. Kardina narrowed his blood-red eyes, then chanted something and yelled, "Ascalon!" A large black blade with blood-red runes on it appeared and rushed at Zero. Zero leaped into the air and screamed, "Rakukojin!", causing his Z-Sabre to morph into a large grey blade with a green crystal and grey runes on it. The two huge blades clashed and ultimately cancelled each other out with a flash of bright light. When it cleared, Zero was standing there with his normal Z-Sabre in hand. The black blade was nowhere to be seen.

"Time to play cheap." Zero grinned as a black flame formed around his hand.

"What do you-"

"DARK HOLD!"

Everything froze. Except Zero, of course. He walked over to Kardina.

"Well now, I could probably just stab you through the heart, but where's the fun in that? Instead..." Zero used his blade to carve a "Zero was here" on Kardina's armour before backing quite a distance away and deactivating Dark Hold. The black flame around his hand disappeared.

"I didn't know Hunters played dirty," Kardina spat. Kardina drew his KZ-Busters and started firing again, hoping to hit Zero once or twice.

"Well, NOW you do..." Zero grinned. "Yammar Option!" Three dragonflies appeared around Zero and shielded him from the shots. Zero then warped in his long-unused Z-Buster and aimed it at Kardina as the dragonflies followed. "My turn." He started firing shot after shot at Kardina, and the dragonflies followed his lead by firing at Kardina too, who cursed and hid behind a pile of rubble, preventing him from getting hit. However, Zero gave a mighty leap and soared over his head, turned around in mid-air, and yelled, "Quake Blazer!" as he stabbed downwards. Kardina cursed again and rolled to the side just in time, then nailed Zero with a few plasma shots.

"Ow... that hurts, you little...! That's it! Twin Dream!" Zero appeared to split into two. Both forms advanced towards Kardina, who frantically shot at both with his KZ-Buster, but to no avail as they activated Tenkuuha and blocked his shots easily.

Suddenly, without warning, both dashed forward. Their sabres glowed red as they yelled, "Shippuuga!" They performed a rising crescent slash at Kardina, who again dodged just in time by jumping. With a flash of light, one of the two Zeros disappeared.

"Not bad, you actually dodged it... now, dodge this!" Zero dashed again, but this time his blade glowed blue and crackled with electricity. "Raijinshou!" yelled Zero as he leaped, creating a massive cyclone of electric energy, but Kardina quickly chanted "Flam Hur", forming an aura around him that protected him. Small meteors than fell from the heavens, but most were destroyed by the thunder cyclone, and one that almost did hit Zero was destroyed by a F-Splasher air dash. As Kardina's aura dissipated, Zero turned and yelled "Hieijin!", hurling a small homing missile at Kardina. Of course, it was easily blocked, but damaging was not Zero's intention anyway. Kardina soon found that Zero had used the missile as a distraction to land a slight distance away and begin another attack, his sabre now devoid of the purple Tenkuuha blade and the hilt crackling with electricity.

"Raijingeki!" Just as Zero thrusted his weapon forward, Kardina yelled "Flam Ort Grav!" and a shield of fire formed around Kardina. As the blade of thunder erupted from his sabre hilt, piercing through Kardina and ravaging him with the electricity, Zero felt himself being damaged by... something. It was then he realised some of the damage he was inflicting with Raijingeki was similarly being inflicted back to himself.

The blade of electricity dissipated just as Kardina's flame barrier did. Both fell to their knees, utterly exhausted.

"Impressive, impressive, for a commonly-built Reploid to be able to match me, probably the most powerful mechanical being of my time, you must have some skill, Zendarquor," Zero commented.

"Same here, I have been unopposed until I met you," Kardina said. "It's not over yet, however." Struggling to his right foot, he drew a dagger and raised it threateningly over Zero, relishing in the shocked expression on the crimson devil's face as he realised that his factory-made opponent had the upper hand. "Every generation has its own legend. However, a lost legend like you should have remained lost and dedicated to the Maverick cause, instead of joining those who would oppose it... Allow me to show you wh-"

"Kardina! Allow me, your master, the honour of destroying this Hunter!"

Diablos' voice rang clear, and Kardina moved to the side. Unknownst to him or Kardina, the time Zero got from the distraction enabled him to ready his teleportation apparatus. As Diablos readied his Yin energy blast, he said, "Any last words, Hunter?"

The teleportation apparatus finished its charging up, and Zero mentally grinned as he heard the revving sound. "Yeah, just one."

"And what would that be?"

"Bye." Zero dematerialised into a red warp laser, which shot off.

"No!!" Diablos shouted, launching the Yin energy blast into thin air.

"Master, take consolation in the fact that we were able to hurt him so," Kardina urged.

"Very well..." Diablos said as he floated back to his room.

Okay, please review! Many thanks! 


	7. Premonition

I thank all who have reviewed thus far! Keep the reviews coming! :)

-- Chapter 5: Premonition --

- MAVERICK HUNTER HEADQUARTERS, 0859 HRS -

Zero warped into the receiving room and immediately collapsed to his knees. X immediately ran over and asked concernedly, "Zero! What did this to you?!"

Before the crimson devil could reply, however, Lifesavor walked over and said, "X, I think we should wait for Zero's wounds to be taken care of first before we ask him any more questions. Come, help me take him to the medical centre."

- MAVERICK HUNTERS HEADQUARTERS, 1334 HRS -

After Zero's wounds had been treated by Lifesavor, he had been instructed by Signas to come to his office to report on the situation at Crimson Palace. "So, Zero, you were the only one of us to go to Crimson Palace and make it back. Even Accelerando was incapable of that feat. Come, tell us what caused such grievious wounds," Signas said.

Zero hesitated for a moment, then said, "I went to the Crimson Palace and ran into this black-armoured Maverick with a wolf-shaped helmet who called himself Kardina Zendarquor. He stated that the reason why he joined the Mavericks was because he saw X leave the city Sky Lagoon crashed into, the city where his late charges lived. Before I could tell him the truth, he decided to attack me. So we fought. I was amazed by his power. For a common factory-built Reploid to rival me, indeed no small feat at all. We fought to a standstill, though it appeared that he had the upper hand at the end of our fight. Before he could finish me off, however, his master chose to intervene.  
It was a huge, limbless three-storey tall Reploid with a horned dinosaur-like head. The distraction gave me enough time to ready my teleportation device and escape."

Signas considered this. "Well, it does sound like an emergency we have here..." He turned on the intercom."Alia! Recall all Hunters that are not on top-priority missions and have them assemble at the Great Hall."

"Acknowledged, sir," Alia replied.

Cutting off the intercom, Signas sighed and said to himself, "We can't afford to not take every available precaution..."


	8. Lull

Apologies in advance for the screwy formatting.

-- Chapter 6: Lull --

A few months passed.

We, the Maverick Hunters, trained day and night for the war that we knew would be upon us soon.

Meanwhile, the rest of the world remained blissfully unaware of the approaching crisis. They hadn't been told anything.

Panicking people were the last thing we needed now...

"Come on! Fight harder!!"

I looked over at Zero. We were in the training grounds and Zero was sparring with the rest of his unit again.

"You'll never beat anyone like that!"

I looked at the sky. Accel still hadn't been found... he was officially MIA, presumed dead. I hoped that that was not the case... as it were, he was one of our stronger Hunters, and especially now that Axl wasn't here... Axl may not have been a Hunter, but he had proven himself especially useful in combat. The most skilled Hunters were Accel and Zero, and if Axl were a Hunter, he'd rank up there with them too. Now all but Zero were out...

I looked over at Zero again. I understand the pressure he must feel, having an entire war and possibly the fate of mankind hinging on his decisions and actions... after all, I'd been in similiar situations before.

_But that's only if he has to face it ALONE_, I thought.

_What if he had someone to help him?_

Later, when I was in my room at night, I opened a long neglected trunk in the bottom of my closet. I threw open the cover and picked up the object inside. I concentrated, and it warped onto my arm. It still fit like a charm... as I blew the last traces of dust off my long unused X-Buster, memories of the Maverick Uprisings came rushing back to me. But this wasn't the Mavericks now... it was a whole new enemy, one that we knew disturbingly little of.

The next day, Signas sent for Zero. He wanted Zero to go on a scouting mission to the Crimson Palace.

_Time to make my move._

I strode into the room and saluted.

"Maverick Hunter Unit 17 Leader X, reporting for duty."

The look on Signas' face was priceless. He quickly recovered, though, and shook my hand.

"Good to have you back, X."

Of course, I was allowed to go with Zero on his mission.

As we strode into the courtyard of the Crimson Palace, we were confronted by the black-armoured, wolf-helmeted Reploid - Kardina, Zero had called him - and what was apparently half of Diablos' army, which looked more like around a dozen armies or so.

We left. It was all we needed to know.

We stepped up training, and asked Signas if we could request the military's help, though all of us knew it was useless. They "never did anything right", according to Signas, and after losing Repliforce, the situation had gotten worse. When Red Alert was eliminated, too, we stood as the sole major peacekeeping force in the world... so we were effectively fighting this war alone.

Day and night, we trained.

At the Crimson Palace, Kardina prostrated himself before his master, bringing reports of the latest batch of soldiers to have been built, as Diablos' laugh echoed through the halls.

The stage had been set.

Now all we needed was someone to make the first move...

* * *

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	9. Dispatch

Thanks to Rioni Riishu for reviewing.

-- Chapter 7: Dispatch --

- MAVERICK HUNTERS HEADQUARTERS, 0712 HRS - 

"BWEEEEEEEP! BWEEEEEEEEEEEP!" 

The sirens screamed as loudspeakers positioned throughout the base blared out a message. 

"ATTENTION ALL MAVERICK HUNTERS! REPORT TO THE GREAT HALL IMMEDIATELY! THIS IS NOT A DRILL! I REPEAT, THIS IS NOT A DRILL!" 

- KALASHNIKOV CITY, RUSSIA, 0712 HRS - 

Meanwhile, in freezing Russia... 

A holo-television was blaring the latest news. "In latest reports, Browning City was devastated by the army of the mysterious new evil force. There was a great number of casualties. Medical staff are still scrambling to help as many as they can." 

A passing Reploid stopped abruptly at this. Upon closer inspection, one would notice that this Reploid wore a very familiar light blue trenchcoat which went with his baggy pants. One would also observe the familiar blue hair and the moon-grey scabbard. "So, it has begun," he said to himself. "Now is not the time to intervene, however, no. I'll just see how it develops..." saying thus, he walked off. 

- 0713 HRS, GREAT HALL, MAVERICK HUNTERS HEADQUARTERS - 

Signas looked out from the podium at the gathered Hunter units. Every one of them, from the Shinobi to the 17th, was standing at attention. In front of them, their leaders stood ready. Clearing his throat, Signas began. "Hunters! I am sure you all are aware of the new threat facing us!" After the noise from the movements died out, he continued. "I am sure that you all have been training hard for the past weeks. Now is the time to show us what the training has done!" 

Signas motioned behind him and a display was brought up on the screen. "Four cities have been attacked and need to be retaken. They are Heckler City, near the ocean; Koch City, in the snowfields; Glockopolis, a mostly subterrenean city; and Browning City... nothing special about that one. You will all be split up into different groups to recapture these cities." 

"The groups are Units 6 and 7 to take Heckler City; Units 0 and 13 to take Koch City; Units 8 and 17 to take Glockopolis; and Units 4, 9 and 14 to take Browning City. Maverick Hunters, dispatch!" 

X turned to the leader of Unit 8, a Reploid named Scourge Drill. "Take the rest of my unit and go ahead first, I'll follow in a few minutes." Drill nodded and a volley of warp lasers shot into the air. 

X returned to his quarters and opened his closet, pressing a hidden button. The back of his closet opened, revealing a concealed passageway to an underground room where X kept his armours through the Maverick Uprisings. He walked over to a machine at the far end, a machine he had been working on since the Second Maverick Uprising. He called it the "Fusion Armour System". It looked like a armour capsule but had pipe-like appendages. X hadn't upgraded it after he retired, and it was still experimental and extremely unstable. He brought over the Giga Armour he had obtained from the Second Maverick Uprising, the Golden Armour from the Doppler Revolt and the Ultimate Armour from the Repliforce Incident. 

He took the pipe like appendages and placed them on the body and arm of the Giga Armour, then he placed more on the arm, leg and body of the Golden Armour, and attached a last one to the helmet of the Ultimate Armour. He then went over to a box in the room and removed several chips from them, which contained weapon data obtained from the Mavericks X had fought over the years. Memories flashed through his mind as he picked 8 of the weapon chips out and returned to the machine, slotting the different chips into 8 slots on the side of the machine. He then pressed a button and waited for the result. 

Sounds of metal on metal ensued from within the machine, before the capsule opened and X beheld his new Fusion Armour. It was black with red trimmings, and a blue jewel was set in the middle of the chest. It had golden wings similiar to those on the Ultimate Armour, only bigger and more elaborate. His boots were also black with a gold trim. A blue crystal was set as usual in the helmet. 

X slipped on the Fusion Armour and called in his X-Buster, which adapted itself immediately to suit the Fusion armour. It ended up with four golden fins with runes on them attached to a dark blue buster that looked almost black. X checked all the capabilities; all 8 Maverick weapons were there, namely the Homing Torpedo, Speed Burner, Frost Shield, Spinning Blade, Aiming Laser, Dark Hold, Metal Anchor, and Gaia Shield. X tested the special weapon charging as well as the unlimited ammunition capabilities, which worked perfectly, then switched his buster back to normal function and tested the charged double-shot, which worked perfectly too. He then tried the Hyper Cannon as well as the double airdash. Both went off without a hitch. He also examined the red aura enveloping him and determined that it caused him to take reduced damage. 

X smiled, warping out his armour temporarily. Perfect. Now it was time to head off into battle... 

A blue warp laser shot towards Glockopolis...

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	10. Sacrifice

Thank you, reviewers!

-- Chapter 8: Sacrifice --

- 0715 HRS, KOCH CITY, RUSSIA - 

Zero and his unit arrived at the outskirts of Koch City, while Unit 13 and their leader, Freeze Wraith arrived alongside them. They surveyed the scene. The town seemed deserted, but both Zero and Wraith had no doubt that there would be an ambush awaiting them. 

"We'd best scope out the area first..." muttered Wraith to Zero, who nodded.

"Shade, go check it out." The ninja Reploid named Shade from Unit 0 nodded and activated his special cloaking unit before heading towards the city. 

A few minutes passed. Then Zero received a transmission from Shade. "Zero, this is Shade. Do you read me?" 

"Loud and clear..." 

"From what I can see, there aren't many troops on the outskirts of the base. Most of them are located towards the city center. The negligible units on the border are just sentries. They aren't too well armed." 

Zero nodded. "We'd best proceed stealthily then... Zero out." The transmission was cut. Zero turned to Wraith and nodded, mouthing, "Let's go." 

Quickly mapping out a plan, both units moved swiftly towards the city, Zero's unit shifting off to the left to the west side of the city, while the 13th Unit lead an assault on the south side to create a diversion, after which Zero's unit would infiltrate and kill the leader. 

Wraith, stopping just outside the south gate to the city, quickly took out an ice grenade and threw it at the two sentries, who were blasted to smithereens before they could react. Wraith then turned to the rest of his unit and said, "All right guys. Let's raise some hell!" With a great battle cry, all of the rushed into the city, slaughtering all the sentries they could find. As they approached the city center, they were met with more and more resistance from the increasing number of troops. Wraith froze an enemy right beside him and stopped to set off a flare before continuing to destroy the opposition. 

At the west gate, Zero saw the flare and motioned to the rest of his unit to enter the city. They moved swiftly through the streets, killing the remaining sentries that hadn't headed for the city center silently. 

As Zero's unit approached the city center, a Reploid in brown armour could be seen watching two separate screens. One showed Zero's unit on it, the other showed Wraiths. He smiled a sinister smile... 

Meanwhile, Zero approached a large building in the heart of the city, disturbed by the lack of defenses. Where were all the guards? Zero shook his head and cleared the thought from his mind as he stepped towards the entrance, facing south. Apparently the leader of Diablos' troops should be at the top floor of the building. As he stepped towards the entrance, he suddenly heard yelling and the sounds of a battle behind him. He turned around to find that a troop of Diablos' Yin soldiers had ambushed his unit, who were valiantly fighting them off. He took a good look at the Yin soldiers for the first time. They looked like regular Reploid frames, only they had purple crystals set in various locations on their body and they moved kind off like zombies. However, they attacked surprisingly fast, Zero noted as one of the soldiers lunged at one of the members of his unit, who received a gash to his chest. 

The blade of Zero's Z-Sabre hummed to life, but as it did, Zero suddenly heard a sound behind him. Something like... growling... Zero whirled around to find one of the Yin soldiers bringing a blade of Yin energy down onto him. There was no time to block or dodge... all Zero could do was to brace for impact... when suddenly the blade stopped, a mere fraction of an inch away from his face. The body of the Yin soldier was kicked away and fell to the ground, a katana wound in its side revealing none other than Shade. 

"Shade! Great timing!" 

"It's not over yet, there are a LOT more in the building." 

Shade looked over at the sea of Yin Reploids that were pushing Unit 0 back, as well as Unit 13 fighting off the Yin Reploids in the distance. "Go! The leader's at the top of this building! We'll hold the troops off!" 

Zero nodded and was about to dash off when Shade called to him. "Wait! Take this, I think you're going to need it." 

Shade threw a small chip to Zero, who caught it, and taking a single glance at it, recognised it as a weapons chip. Yelling a quick thanks to Shade, he inserted it into his sabre and began installing the data. Zero took a deep breath and started climbing the stairs in front of him as the entrance to the building closed behind him. 

Just like old times... I'm doing this alone again. As Zero reached the second floor, a barrage of buster fire greeted him. Zero quickly activated the Tenkuuha and slashed a few plasma bullets into oblivion, before grabbing a nearby table and throwing it at the enemies. Not only did it act as something of a shield, it stunned the Yin soldiers and allowed Zero to dash forward and start slicing through the horde like a hot knife through butter. Zero soon managed to reach the third floor. 

This time, the Yin soldiers sported all manners of different weapons; chains, morning stars, swords, busters, grenades... which one soldier lobbed at him. Zero decided to play baseball and promptly whacked the grenade back at the offending Reploid, who caught it, and blinked... just before the grenade exploded, throwing Reploid parts all over the room. Zero then quickly dashed and sliced the nearest Reploid into two, then beheading a nearby one. 

"Aaaah, I'm getting tired of this." Zero kicked a nearby soldier through the window, then hopped out and began to scale the side of the building. Yin Reploids sporting jetpacks attempted to stop him, most falling to a single strike of his sabre. In this way, Zero managed to reach the 23rd floor, also the top floor, before he crashed in through the window to find another horde of Yin Reploids. He quickly dispatched them with the use of the Raijingeki and Ryuenjin, as well as a few others like the Ensuizan. Zero then spotted a door off to his right, which he approached... it was another flight of steps, which Zero climbed, finding himself at the roof. 

"Ah. I've been waiting for you, Zero... the legendary swordsman of the Hunters." The Reploid wearing brown armour in front of Zero turned around. Zero observed nothing very special about him; he was a typical Reploid frame, only he had dark purple crystals set in various parts of his body like the Yin soldiers. 

"Ikari Kendou is the name... but you may call me your demise!" The brown Reploid raised his hand to the heavens and a sabre hilt warped into his hand, from which a brown blade erupted. The Reploid then rushed forward with surprising speed; Zero only barely managed to bring up his green Z-Sabre to block. He then pushed Kendou away and executed a Shippuuga, which Kendou easily dodged. 

"Tsk, tsk. I'm disappointed. Is that all you've got? I expected more from the Hunter's best swordsman- oof!" Kendou was abruptly cut off when Zero lunged forward and dealt Diablos' general a swift kick to the gut. 

"Hey, Mr. Demise! You know what's your main problem? You talk too much." Zero brought his sabre down, threatening to split Kendou's head into two, but the brown Reploid quickly blocked the blow and jumped back. 

"So, you're good up close. Let's see how well you fare from afar!" Kendou brought his sword upwards very quickly, causing an invisible airwave to catch Zero by surprise, causing him to receive a cut as well as be blown back. Kendou executed the maneuver again, but this time Zero was ready and dodged out of the way. Both quickly realised neither would hit at this rate, and Kendou got fed up. 

"Bah! I've had enough of games! Time to take you out!!" The dark purple crystals on Kendou's body broke and engulfed him in a dark purple aura. "Die!!" A few energy balls separated from the aura and formed into purple knives, that shot towards Zero. He managed to deflect them with his sabre, but only barely. Just then a beep from within his helmet informed him that installation of Shade's weapon was now complete. Zero thought of activating it, but more knives were shooting towards him. Zero swung his sabre, deflecting one knife... and was considerably surprised when a green shuriken shot out and connected with Kendou. The brown Reploid had obviously not been expecting it either, as he stumbled backwards a few paces. He narrowed his eyes. 

"So, you've got a new trick. If you think that's going to stop me, you're horribly mistaken!" Kendou rushed forward with surprising speed, forming a shield in front of him, blocking all the shurikens that Zero launched at him and knocking the crimson Reploid down. Zero quickly backflipped, landing on his feet and whirling around, but Kendou shot a purple orb at him that Zero attempted to block. Big mistake. Zero was immediately encased in a black energy ball that rendered him unable to move. 

"Hahaha! This is all the Maverick Hunters have to offer? Looks like the world is ours!" Kendou rushed forward, sabre outstretched, intending to impale Zero... 

"SHLICK!!" The sabre entered the body with a sickening sound. As Kendou withdrew his sabre, he let out a long laugh- until Zero's face in front of him began to morph and fade, and he ended up looking into the eyes of Wraith. 

"WHAT?!" Kendou cried out in surprise.

"Heh... I switched positions with him just before you knocked him- me, rather- down with your shield... Interesting what holograms can do, eh?" Wraith let out a harsh laugh, coughing up Reploid blood in the process.

"Hmph! He'll die anyway! What makes you think this will stop me?" 

"Look behind you," came a voice from behind Kendou as a hand was placed onto his shoulder. Kendou whirled around and came face to face with Zero. He drew back his sabre and was about to decapitate the crimson Hunter when his arm suddenly stopped moving and he felt a chill spreading through his body. Looking down, he found his entire body below his neck encased in ice. He also felt Wraith's hand on his boot, even through the ice. 

"YOU!!!" was Kendou's last shout before Zero beheaded him. 

"Heh..." Wraith coughed up more blood, clearly damaged beyond repair. "I don't think even Lifesavor can patch this up... looks like it's goodbye, Zero. Promise me... you'll stop... Diablos..." Wraith's hand slipped to the floor as his eyes closed for the last time... 

"...I promise..." Zero whispered softly. Just then, he received a transmission from Shade. "Zero? We're done cleaning up here..." 

Zero nodded, eyes closed. "Good, I'll notify HQ." The transmission was cut even as Zero sent another. "Zero to HQ, Koch City has been retaken." 

Cutting that transmission, Zero looked back at Wraith's body and the still upright body of Kendou before a red warp laser shot into the sky.

* * *

Please RR! 


	11. Target

Rioni Riishu: More detail? How? Do explain. Emotional effect? Oh, no. That wasn't the idea. It was supposed to be something to encourage Zero to fight on. Accel... He'll return. Well, duh, he will!

- Chapter 9: Target -

- GLOCKOPOLIS, NORWAY, 0720 HRS -

A blue warp laser shot into the outskirts of the Norwegian mining subterreanean city of Glockopolis, where the members of Units 6 and 17 were engaged in combat with yet another army of Diablos' Yin Reploids. Calling the Fusion Armour, X Opening the energy intake vents and charging energy for the X-Buster, X observed from his vantage point the fighting. Little bubbles of energy surrounded him as he did so, giving him a visible glow It was undeniable that the Yin Reploids had a speed advantage over the standard Maverick, but Diablos had clearly gone for quantity over quality where his armies were concerned. The Hunters had killed far more of the Yin Reploids than the other had managed them. As the orbs surrounding him turned dark pink, as did the glow, signifying the full charge of both X-busters, X leapt into the air. Utilising the double air dash, which caused a yellowish-white burst of energy to shoot out behind him, he hurtled towards the buildings, ready to join the battle. 

On the roof of the tallest of the buildings in Glockopolis, a dark shape took in the battle from his prime viewing location. He observed X's arrival and said, "So, you arrive at last..." Fiddling with what appeared to be some sort of gun, he got into a proning position and stuck the barrel out slightly from a slit in the wall, waiting. 

One of the 17th recoiled in fear as a Yin soldier lunged at him... and had its jump terminated by a colourful cross-charge shot. The large centre shot, accompanied by a few orbs around it, smashed into the Yin soldier and exploded, destroying the cretin. Turning around, he saw the black and red-striped figure of X glide briefly to the ground, kicking up dust as he did so, and shouted, "Commander X!"   
"No time to talk now. Where's Drill?"   
"Commander Drill? He went that- Commander X, behind you!"   
X whirled around to spot a Yin soldier leaping at him, ready to slash. Thinking quickly, he brought out the Gaia Shield and watched as the Yin soldier smashed into the Shield and bounced off, his movement deflected away. Bringing the other ready charged shot to bear, X launched the pink-cored shot with the blue energy swirling around it and fried the Yin soldier with its power. Turning back to the Hunter in his unit, he said, "Go find the rest of our unit... Wait a second." With this, he brought to bear the Frost Shield. Charging it up, he released the charge. Instantly, an expulsion of mist occured. Focusing, X shaped the mist using the Frost Shield's power. Slowly, a long, transparent rod formed, and a matching pointed blade formed after that. X had formed a lance with it. "Take this with you." With this, X gave the icy lance to the 17th member and departed. 

After a short bout of dashing, X came upon the location of Scourge Drill and observed as the 6th was engaged in a fierce battle with a large group of Yin soldiers. "Time to even the score," he said. Charging up the Metal Anchor, he utilised the charge. As he did so, there was a flash of light high in the sky. From the opening portal dove a large flock of silver Storm Eagles. They fell upon the group of Yin soldiers, easily annihilating a large number. What was left was easily wiped out by the 6th. Turning back, Drill said, "Glad you could make it, X."   
To that, X replied, "Looks like I still have to do my part to preserve peace..." 

A sound of shooting was suddenly heard from above. X rolled to the side and barely managed to avoid the shot, which dug into the ground where he had been standing. Looking upwards in the general direction of the shooter and shouted, "Come down here!" As he did so, he observed a figure moving towards the parapet of a building. 

The figure leapt off the building and headed for the ground footfirst. As he did so, a pair of repulsors kicked in, slowing his descent. Air emitted from the repulsors, creating the effect of a jetboot system. X looked up and looked over the assailant. 

The foe boasted camouflage-green armour in the style of late 20th-century human armies. It had a semicircle-shaped helmet. Over its left eye was a transculent blue square piece of plastic which doubtlessly served as a reticule. It boasted brown hair. The end of the right arm boasted a rifle-like projectile weapon with a slender barrel and a red warhead-like object where the trigger ought to have been. On the forearms were purple crystals like those on the Yin soldiers. These crystals were also mounted on the shinguards. Two more existed, one on the chest and one on the helmet. 

As he reached the ground, X asked, "You must be the general of Diablos' assigned to this area! Who are you? Speak!"   
The foe laughed. "Mega Man X... We meet at last," he said between chuckles.   
Within him, X shuddered, feeling a chill. "How does whoever this is know that I am a Mega Man?" he thought. "You know me, then."   
"Why, of course! You are... the youngest brother of the one who beat me in the past."   
This was stunning news to the Hunter. "Youngest brother? He knows about Blues and Rock?! Speak! Who are you in actuality?"   
The opponent chuckled once more. "Mega Man X... I once fought against your elder brother. I am one of Zero's myriad elder brothers."   
"Enough games!" X snapped. "Tell me who you are, or me and my unit will cut you down!"   
"You sound confident of that..." the foe said. "Fair enough... They call me Search Man."   
"Search... Man?!" X said. Running a scan through his internal database, X came upon the information of Search Man. After running through the data, he looked up, incredulous. "You can't be. You're too... lean."   
"You forget one of the oldest lessons, Mega Man X? Don't judge a book by its cover. After your elder brother destroyed me for the second time, my plans were kept away... until master Diablos resurrected me in this new body. Laugh not at my smaller buster, for I assure you, it is at least twice as powerful as the one I wielded against your elder brother."   
"Is that so... Prove it," X said.   
"You'll regret ever challenging me, Mega Man X," Search Man said. 

As he said so, the former Robot Master leapt to his feet and began scaling the buildings he had leapt off from. X decided not to waste any time and went after him. As he scaled the walls after his adversary, X switched to the Hyper Cannon. Feeling the energy boost granted by it, X fired off a few bursts at his camouflage-coloured foe. The swirling energy balls hurtled after the rebuilt Robot Master. After a few made it to Search Man, however, the opponent suddenly seemed more agile than before, and was able to evade most of the swirling energy balls. 

Deciding to change tactics, X switched out the Hyper Cannon for the Aiming Laser. Raising the weapon to face his foe, X fiddled with the weapon's green reticlue until it locked onto Search Man. With this, X unleashed the shot. The purple laser shot out and struck Search Man firmly. Unfortunately, Search Man managed to get to the parapet of the building's rooftop and avoided falling to a sticky end. 

As X finally made it to the rooftop, Search Man was waiting for him, and fired off a shot. Thinking quickly, X activated the Spin Blade and fired. Two red-cored, grey-bordered discus shot out from the X-buster. The shot hit one of the Spin Blades and destroyed it, but the other continued onward and cut the former Robot Master a new one. 

Growing desperate, Search Man snapped off a burst of shots at X, who quickly ran for cover, hiding behind a chimney. Recognising that he could not compete at such close quarters, X readied the Speed Burner... 

As Search Man approached the chimney behind which X was hiding, X popped out. Making a short hop, he activated the charged Speed Burner and shot for a neighbouring rooftop. Search Man was able to leap out of the way, but he still got singed by the flames surrounding X, who made it to the building before the charged Speed Burner cut out. 

Crouching behind a skylight, X ran through his weapons. "Hmm... Homing Torpedo..." With this, he stuck out the X-Buster and fired off a burst. 

On his end, Search Man was attempting to target X when he noticed the Homing Torpedoes being launched. As the grey mini-missiles flew into the air, he laughed mockingly and said, "Missing already, Mega Man X?" As he taunted, however, he noticed that the Homing Torpedoes were turning towards him, and muttered a "crap" shortly before they detonated. 

As the smoke cleared, X took a glance and found Search Man attempting to rush forward to a better vantage point. Thinking quickly, he fired a Metal Anchor just forward of Search Man's intended destination. It hit and Search Man ran into it. As he recoiled from the deadly edge of the anchor-shaped projectile, he cocked his "eyebrows" as if in thought. 

Suddenly, a yellow glow appeared around the Search Scope, as did lines of greyish-yellow energy. As X slowed down to consider this, the Search Scope fired off a shot. Moving too slowly, X was nailed and thrown back. 

"See, Mega Man X! My new buster is of power sufficient to knock you around!" With this, Search Man fired off another shot. X tried to hide behind the skylight once more, but to his shock yet another purple charged Search Scope shot sliced through the skylight, knocking him back upon immediately. Now, Search Man abruptly stopped. 

"If you think you can beat me, Search Man, then do so!" X said, fully aware now of the rebuilt Robot Master's power. At this point in time he was already greatly hurt by the devastating charged Search Scope shots, and with the power he faced he saw no way to win except through a miracle. 

"I would shoot you one more time, if I had the power! Mwahahah! Mega Man X, admit defeat! I am superior!" Search Man crowed. 

On the rooftop he was on, X thought to himself, "He's right... I can't... Wha?" His reverie was interrupted by a soft beeping. After a short while, a voice said to him from within, "Giga Crush ready for use." At this, X was revitalised and shouted out, "Search Man, I will not give up!" 

"So be it," the remade Robot Master said. As he started aiming, X suddenly ran towards the parapet. Making a mighty dash-jump, he hurtled towards Search Man's building. As his forward momentum came to an end metres away from the wall, X performed an air-dash and latched onto the wall. 

Seeing this, Search Man ran to the parapet and aimed the Search Scope downwards. "I have you now, Mega Man X!" he said and was about to fire when a shot hurled itself at him and he had to twist away. Looking down, he observed X firing with one X-Buster as he scaled the wall. Thus, the two traded shots, X firing as he scrambled up the building, while Search Man used his Search Scope in an attempt to knock X off. However, despite Search Man's best efforts, he was unable to prevent X from reaching the parapet. The Hunter set foot on the rooftop as Search Man backed slowly away. 

"Time to end this. DARK HOLD!" X shouted. As he did so, he raised his right hand and thrust it out palmfirst. With this, time stopped and the colours were flipped around. 

A mocking laugh reached his ears. Search Man said, "It takes more than that to stop me, Mega Man X!" With that, he raised the Search Scope, fingering the trigger... and his eyes went wide as absolutely nothing left the muzzle. "What is this trickery?!" he shouted quizzically. 

"It may not stop you directly, but it stops your projectile assaults. Now, take this! Giga..." With this, a set of blue orbs circled X and turned yellow. As the orbs disappeared, a brilliant sand-yellow aura surrounded X. Shouting, Search Man hurled a punch at X... and withdrew the hand with equally deadly speed, looking in shock at the melted hand and the cauterised circuitry. "Crush!" X finished, closing his eyes as he did so. The aura expanded outwards into lines of deadly energy. Whatever unfriendly material they contacted was vapourised instantly, including ex-Robot Masters. 

"No!!!" cried Search Man as the energies ripped his body to shreds. 

X heaved a short wheeze of relief. Putting two fingers to the right side of his helmet, X sent out a transmission. "X to HQ, Glockopolis has been retaken. Over and out." 

Looking once more at the erstwhile brother of Zero, X turned away briefly as he turned into a black warp laser and shot out upwards, disappearing as it contacted the top of the massive cavern.

* * *

Please RR! 


	12. Desperado

Rioni Riishu: If you've played BN4: Red Sun, you'll recognise it as the description of SearchMan.exe. The BN incarnations are excellent for remaking RMs into Reploids.

Chapter 10: Desperado

CONCIERGE, MAVERICK HUNTER HEADQUARTERS, 0721 HRS -

The young clerk Reploid was humming boredly to herself when a shiny, black-with-gold Reploid walked up to her. Casting a cautious eye over the newcomer, she observed that he had a helmet that covered his entire face, revealing only a pair of blue lights that she assumed served for eyes. He had a great many spikes over his armour, including one that protruded from the faceplate as a horn. What drew her attention, however, was the red circle with many red lines through it that was engraved slightly below the forehead and horn, as well as the scythe strapped to his back. Observing the Reploid's eyes on her, she blushed slightly and turned to face his eyes. "Yes, sir? How can I help you?"

"I would like to get to the Commander's Office, if you please."

The clerk Reploid an eyebrow at this request, then said, "Okay, sir. Please head to the Security Office, where you will be scanned for malicious objects before being escorted to the Commander's Office."

Grunting an approval, the shiny-armoured Reploid turned and headed in the general direction of the Security Office.   
Turning slightly to look in the direction of the shiny-armoured Reploid's path, the clerk Reploid then shrugged and returned to her work.

INNER SANCTUM, CRIMSON PALACE, 0724 HRS -

Kardina knelt on one knee tersely in front of Diablos as he reported the bad news. "Master, I regret to inform you that Glockopolis and Koch City have been retaken by the Hunters. Furthermore, even as we speak, the other Hunter units are combating our forces in Browning and Heckler Cities. While they do not have the Legendary Hunters as leaders, they are nonetheless unyielding foes, unwilling to retreat in the face of our counterassaults."

Diablos narrowed his eyes in distaint, and his mouth curled in anger. He turned around, temporarily ignoring Kardina, and looked in the general direction of Accel's Yin energy prison. Now he spoke as though to the trapped Hunter, even though the shielding that separated the throne room from the gaol was soundproof. "Shadowsong Accelerando Wily. It appears that I have underestimated your brethren. No more, spawn of Wily, no more." Turning to Kardina, he said, "Kardina!" After observing Kardina twitch slightly in a show of attention-paying, he continued. "It appears as though the Hunters need to be reminded of our power. Gather our elites in the courtyard. We set off for Browning City at once!" 

"Immediately, master!" Kardina acknowledged. Making a swift nod of his head, he rose to his feet, backed out of the throne room, and ran off. Diablos turned once more to consider the thick doors that led to the Crimson Palace's gaol, then resumed his usual facing and started making his way out.

NAVIGATION ROOM, MAVERICK HUNTER HEADQUARTERS, 0726 HRS -

"Okay, Glockopolis and Koch City have been retaken... Units 4, 6, 7, 9 and 14 are having great trouble in their battles, 

though... And Layer, will you stop swinging your rapier in the air!" Alia shouted.

The new purple-haired and -armoured navigator Reploid known as Layer twitched an eyebrow in anger and disgust, then sheathed the thin-bladed weapon, spouting only one word, "Fine."

A sandy-haired, green-armoured fellow Navigator chuckled in spite of herself from the other side of the navigation room.

"Methinks you should have joined the militant divisions, with your desire to wield your blade and all."

"Stuff it, Palette," Layer scowled at her fellow Navigator.

"Or...?" Palette quizzed with just a tiny glint in her eye.

"Now, now, stay calm, the two of you!" Alia urged from her vantage point in the centre of the room.

As she did so, the twin doors slid open to reveal the shiny-armoured Reploid, escorted by two Hunters. "Ma'am, t'is 'ere guvnor says 'e wants to see t'e Commander," one of them, evidently on the verge of job retirement from his slightly-slowed actions, spouted in his accent.   
"Hmm... Okay, go ahead..." Alia said noncommittally. She watched the newcomer out of the corner of her wary eye as he headed to the double doors between her which led to Signas' office. The double doors slid open to accommodate the newcomer and his two escorts, then closed back after them.

COMMANDER'S OFFICE, MAVERICK HUNTER HEADQUARTERS, 0727 HRS -

Signas looked up from the paperwork he was handling to observe the arrivals... and immediately he scowled in disgust.

"Lucifer."

The veteran Hunter asked in confusion, "Sir? You know t'is 'ere guvnor?"

Signas cringed slightly at the Hunter's accent, but made no public display of it. "Yes... Go out and leave me alone. Wait for him right outside."

As the two Hunters saluted and left, Signas turned his eyes to face Lucifer. "It has been some time, Lucifer... Ever since the presentation... What exactly have you been up too?"

"Curious, are you, Signas?" The shiny-armoured Reploid scientist countered. "That, however, is not my true purpose in coming here."

"What would that be, then?"

"I... have heard news about the war between the Hunters and the Yin Reploids."

"No surprise. It seems as though... Your field of research is proving to be most troublesome," Signas said, sitting up straight. While he did not mention it outright, the tone with which the Commander of the Maverick Hunters Central Division spoke bore an accusation. It was almost as if Signas was convinced that Lucifer was responsible for all this, and the astute scientist Reploid knew it.

"Ah, but then it is due to no fault of mine that these events of mine are occurring. After all, you once sent one of your Ultimate Hunter Hunters... I think his name was Accelerando, no?... To check out my research. I met with him, and going over my facilities, he found nothing wrong!" Lucifer made this last point with a triumphant tone.

Signas slumped back into his chair in defeat. He was right, after all... "So, get on with your purpose."

"At last we get there. I would like to offer my services to you..."

BROWNING CITY, UNITED KINGDOM, 0750 HRS -

"Gaaaaaaaah!"

A Hunter let out a last strangled cry as a katana severed his head from the rest of his body. As his nearby comrades began to deal with this new threat, a barrage of bullets tore through their bodies from above, leaving their lifeless remains to slump to the floor.

The white katana-wielding Reploid sheathed its weapon as a wolf-helmeted Reploid touched down beside him. "Kardina! Where is our Master?"

"There's been a change of orders... our Master shall retake Koch City by himself... I will lead troops to decimate the Hunters at Glockopolis. As for you, Nahamatsu... you will stay here and fend off any remaining Hunters. After our assault, their morale will undoubtedly be low... if they come again, they should not put up much of a fight."

The Reploid now identified as Nahamatsu casually stabbed his katana through the chest of a Hunter who had attempted to backstab him. "You will be leaving now?"

"It looks like we are done here anyhow..." Indeed, Kardina was right. Many of the Hunters had fled by now, besides a few stragglers who stood and fought. Kardina easily blew the brains of one such Reploid out with his trusty pistols, before dematerialising into a warp laser and shooting off.

KOCH CITY, RUSSIA, 0754 HRS -

Diablos moved through the streets of the city, dismembering Hunters left and right with his formidable claws as they opened fire on him with their weapons; they might as well have been hurling peas at a stone wall. Soon, many realised this fact and threw down their weapons to run.

"I tire of this!" Diablos' loud voice boomed throughout the city. The large Reploid then concentrated, holding out one claw, as a dark ball of Yin energy began to form in his palm. When he had deemed it large enough, he released it into the air, where it exploded with a burst of the obliterating energy, sending a powerful shockwave throughout the city, easily wrecking most, if not all, the Reploids, and damaging buildings, some of which nearly collapsed. A toothy grin formed on the evil behemoth's face as he surveyed the destruction he had caused. Just then, a familiar sound informed him to Kardina's arrival.

"My lord, the Hunter threat in Browning has been eliminated. Ryuugo is combating the Hunters in Heckler..."

Another sound alerted Diablos to another Reploid's arrival. This one was red and seemed to be clad in standard-issue armour, though he had Yin crystals at various points of his body. "Master, Heckler City is secured..."

Diablos nodded. "You have done well, Ryuugo..." The red Reploid nodded and left to guard the abovementioned city.

"My lord, I will take my leave now." Kardina too left for the city of Glockopolis.

"...Kryston, come to me!" Diablos telepathically called out for one of his elites. Immediately, this call was answered, and the Reploid in question arrived at his master's side, kneeling. "You will guard this city... I will return to our fortress now."

The Reploid named Kryston nodded an assent as Diablos left the city, laughing to himself. "Muahahaha! Soon, the world will be ours!..."

COMMANDER'S OFFICE, MAVERICK HUNTER HEADQUARTERS, 0804 HRS -

"So, you propose to lead a group of elite Hunters to infiltrate the fortress and assassinate Diablos..."

"...Indeed."

Jerking forward, Signas slammed his fists on the table. "This is ridiculous! You expect me to sacrifice my best Hunters on what is nothing more than a suicide mission!"

Lucifer smiled coldly, unmoved. "I assure you this mission will succeed."

Signas closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair, trying to calm himself. "...You do not know the power of Diablos... You have not seen it..."

Lucifer looked almost on the verge of laughing. "Oh, but I-"

Signas' eyes snapped open. "You DO realise the fate of the world may very well hinge on this, do you not?"

Lucifer grinned. "If this plan fails, it may well mean the end of the world... but if you do not put this plan into motion, it may also mean the end of the world... Do you take the gamble, or do you not?"

Signas sighed. "I was never really one for gambling."

Lucifer got up from his seat, still smiling. "I doubt that. So that's a no... is it not?" The black Reploid scientist turned to leave.

Just as Lucifer was about to step out of the door, a voice from behind him stopped him in his tracks. "We'll take it."

The black Reploid turned to face the commander, who was now standing. "Do you have anyone in mind...?"

Signas nodded. "Out of all the Maverick Hunters, there are none who are more elite than these two..."

Signas looked out of the window, towards the training grounds, where two familiar Reploids were sparring.

"...X and Zero."

Some time later...

X, Zero, and a few other elite Hunters stood at attention within the commander's office. Lucifer and Signas were briefing them about the details of the mission. Finally, as the briefing ended and the Hunters left to get ready, Signas sighed again and turned to Lucifer.

"...I hope you know what you're doing..."

Lucifer grinned. "I assure you this mission will succeed..."

_...it must..._

CRIMSON PALACE, 0848 HRS -

A metal grating in the wall fell onto the floor with a clatter, though it did not generate enough noise to garner any attention. X poked his head out of the air duct and surveyed the deserted hallway. Crawling out of the cramped space, he muttered a soft "All Clear" to his comrades. One by one, the left the duct, their method of choice for sneaking into the base. The group made their way to a nearby door, weapons at the ready just in case. As X reached out to open the door, it opened before his hand could make contact with the knob as a Yin Reploid entered the hallway. Immediately, it was met by a charged X-Buster shot and a quick Z-Sabre slash, but in the instant the shot made contact, it had already sent out an "Intruder Alert!"

As the alarm blared throughout the fortress, the Hunters wasted no time. "Quickly!" Lucifer shouted, running through the door the Reploid had run out of and severing a similar nearby Reploid in two with a swipe from his scythe. The rest of the group followed as Lucifer swiftly broke down the doors in their way, quickly eliminating any resistance. However, as they approached the inner sanctum, the swarm of enemies grew larger, and their progress slowed. By the time they reached the door to the room where Diablos was, there was a huge swarm of enemies approaching them, surrounding them on all sides till their backs were forced against the door.

Lucifer quickly whispered his orders to the rest of the group. "I'll head in to fight Diablos, we can't afford getting swarmed in there! Hold them off!"

"What! Why you alone?" X questioned.

"Because I, alone, the researcher of Yin energy, knows how it works and how to combat it!" hissed Lucifer through his teeth. "We don't have much time!

One of the other Hunters said, "But the door is locked... we must enter the passcode into that keypad!"

"With any luck, Diablos hasn't changed the one Red set..." Zero inched over to the keypad and quickly punched in a long string of numbers. It worked and the door opened.

"Go, then! We can handle them!" X muttered to Lucifer, gesturing towards the door. Lucifer nodded and disappeared through the doorway as the door closed and automatically locked itself again.

"Just like old times, eh Zero?" X called in the Fusion Armour he had made earlier, beginning to charge his buster.

"Plowing through huge groups of Reploids..." Both elites took a moment to reminiscence about the past Maverick Uprisings. "...Yeah, definitely. So, you ready?"

"Born that way." X responded, as his buster charged to its maximum capacity.

"Then let's ROCK!" yelled Zero, eyes alight with the flame of battle once more, as the Yin Reploids closed in quickly...

* * *

Whoo. Evil, evil cliffy. P As usual, comments and suggestions are welcomed. 


	13. Hunter's Chance

Rioni Riishu: Thanks for your loyalty. I'm pretty sure that the formatting errors are no thanks to I'll change the "Diablos in place of Lucifer" error ASAP.

* * *

Chapter 11: Hunter's Chance 

- INNER SANCTUM, CRIMSON PALACE, 0859 HRS -

"Master, Glockopolis has been retaken," Kardina said as he knelt before Diablos.

"Well done. With these vital cities taken, we can start our conquest of the world," the giant Reploid said. As he did so, klaxons started blaring. "What is it now!" He said in anger. The main viewscreen turned on to reveal the forms of Lucifer, X, Zero and the elite Hunters. "X Light. Zero Wily. Some Hunters... And who is that person? My databanks do not have information on him..." Diablos pondered.

"Master! Now is not the time to think of the identity of strangers! We are in clear and present danger!" Kardina urged.  
"Very true. There is something strange about the unknown, though..."

"Master, we must do something!" Kardina urged once more. This time, however, Diablos was paying full attention to the main screen and ignoring his words.

Kardina could only watch helplessly as the Hunter team came ever-closer to the inner sanctum. The camera showed them come to right outside the great double doors, and the wolf-helmeted Maverick could only watch as the doors slid open to reveal Zero leaning slightly over the keypad with Lucifer standing ready. As the double doors completely slid open, Lucifer dashed in as they started slowly closing in again. With a thud, the great sliding doors closed, leaving Lucifer in the inner sanctum with Kardina and Diablos.

"Who are you, daring to attack the master?" Kardina said as he drew his daggers. Although sounding haughty and confident, he was actually beside himself in fear at the audacity of the foe - Or was it the wealth of deadly spikes the adversary possessed that inspired this?

"Suffice to say that you can call me your devil," Lucifer retorted.

"Devil... Your name is Lucifer!" Kardina spat.

"Smart, little one... But can you take the truth?" He idly rubbed a finger over the scythe's surface, then settled into a classical Chinese taunt position, the right hand, which was holding the scythe, behind and to the right, while the open left hand was in front and gesturing towards himself.

With a roar, Kardina hurled himself at Lucifer.

Kardina leapt at Lucifer and attempted to stab the black-armoured Reploid with his daggers. In response, Lucifer backdashed slightly, then brought down the scythe to parry Kardina's blades.

Deciding to change tactics, Kardina drew back, sheathed his daggers, then drew his KZ-Busters. He swiftly fired a few bursts at Lucifer, attempting to make use of his inability to strike at longer ranges. To his surprise, Lucifer swung the scythe rapidly in a circular pattern and blocked the shots, then detached the sickle and hurled it at Kardina, who barely avoided decapitation by ducking. As Kardina opened his mouth to gather flames, Lucifer dashed forward and before the black Reploid could get away, he found the sickle at his throat. "Move an eyelid, and your head shall be mine," Lucifer hissed.  
Kardina shot him a look of deadliest venom at this.

"Now disarm and sit quietly while I defeat your master," Lucifer instructed.

Spitting, Kardina shut his mouth, threw aside the KZ-Busters, then sat down tersely where Lucifer could see him. "Fool. You might have defeated me, but you will never defeat my master."

"Oh, we'll see," was the calm reply.

Striding up to in front of Diablos, Lucifer said, "Yin Reploid! It is time to meet your maker!"

Diablos looked him over and chuckled. "Very well, then. Another casualty in battle you shall become, imprudent fool."

"I have no intention of being another statistic, Diablos. Hit me with your best!"

Diablos chuckled at this. "So be it. Remember that you asked for it, though..." Raising both claws, Diablos focused, calling on the Yin Energy to project itself. There was a great vibration in the air as a great orb of Yin Energy gathered with the claws. "Last chance, fool..." Diablos warned as the high concentration of Yin Energy caused the air to rumble ominously.

"Bring it," was the somewhat-cocky reply.

Diablos said no more. Drawing the claws back briefly, he then launched them and the Yin Energy orb at Lucifer. There was a great explosion and lots of smoke was created. Was this the end of the Reploid scientist?

Apparently not. As the smoke cleared, it was evident that Lucifer was still standing, with a cocky grin on his face, no less, although panting rather heavily.

"What! How can this be!" Diablos shouted in shock.

"Heh," Lucifer laughed dryly. "As a researcher of Yin Energy, you would expect me not to be protected against it? You've pumped all your energy into that wasted shot, now you're mine!" Leaping at the giant Reploid, Lucifer berserkly began to slash away with his scythe, a wild look in his eyes. Diablos let out a deafening roar of rage, bringing up his claws to defend himself, all the while attempting to blast Lucifer with Yin energy. While the agile Lucifer was able to dodge many of Diablos' attacks, he was not able to pierce Diablos' powerful armour, only inflicting a few cuts in the armour here and there. However, it was apparent to Kardina that both were tiring considerably.

_How can this be! He can actually match my master in combat!_ thought Kardina, as the two continued to trade blows.

Meanwhile, outside the huge doors, X, Zero and the other Hunters were still holding back the swarm of Yin Reploids.

"RRRRAAAAAAGH!" roared Zero, beheading enemy after enemy, his Z-sabre cutting through the Reploids' bodies like a hot knife through butter. So many Reploid heads, dismembered limbs, and lifeless corpses littered the floor around him that his immediate vicinity was better described as a "scrapyard". Meanwhile, X unleashed a powerful charged shot from his buster into the swarm once again, mowing down a line of enemies. He then hurled the charge in his other arm as it materialised into a reddish fireball with smaller blue shots circling it, plowing through the enemies, although not as effective as his earlier assault. He then pumped a nearby Yin Reploid full of plasma shots. As the hole-filled body collapsed to the floor, a more bulky security droid attempted to crush him in a bear hug from behind.

"Get... off..." growled X, charging the Speed Burner. As soon as the charge reached maximum capacity, X let it rip. Instantly, the Lightbot turned into a living fireball, completely burning off the arms of the Reploid who had so discourteously attacked him from behind and roasting a good amount of security robots as he barrelled forth. As soon as the effect of the charged weapon ended, X switched to yet another Maverick weapon; the Frost Shield. Firing it at the ground a distance away, X created a ring of sharp icicles around him to protect himself till he charged the weapon. Mindlessly, the Yin Reploids stumbled into the various icicles, impaling themselves on the sharp spikes.

"...Idiots," muttered X, as he released the charge. Cold air gathered round his buster, then froze up, creating a lance extending from the tip of his buster. The protective circle of frost shattered, but X was ready, stabbing anyone who dared to come close, and taking extra care to put a few extra holes in the now-armless Reploid from earlier. Soon he realised that the Hunters were slowly but surely being pushed back; within a few moments, even Zero had been pushed back to the immediate area around the large double doors.

X grit his teeth. He checked his systems; while he hadn't sustained severe injuries, and neither had Zero, their other comrades were visibly bleeding and exhausted. He himself was beginning to tire, and he'd exhausted almost all his special weapon ammo. As his lance of ice disintegrated, X swapped to the Aiming Laser, about the only weapon he had ammo left for.

_Dammit, Lucifer... Hurry up! What are you doing!_

Within the Inner Sanctum, Diablos had retreated to a safe distance from the scythe-wielding scientist and was now hurling lasers of Yin energy at him to prevent the spiked Reploid from approaching. However, it wasn't working very well; Lucifer appeared to be doing a dance of sorts on the spot, parrying blast after blast with his scythe, which seemed to glow everytime a shot glanced off the surface of the blade. The reflected blasts shot off in different directions. Some hit the roof, causing yet more debris to descend on the already rubble-filled floor; some hit the ground, creating smouldering craters; some hit the various screens and control panels around the room, causing them to spark and explode. Everywhere there was wreckage and destroyed machinery, as well as various depressions in the floor; and in the middle of it all, two figures were battling. Although Lucifer had long since ignored Kardina, being preoccupied with Diablos, Kardina could only sit there, taking in the sight with awe, and knowing there was no place for him in this fight.

"THIS... IS... ENOUGH!" Diablos finally roared, bringing both claws together as the crystals embedded in them shone fiercely. Thrusting them forward, he unleashed a huge beam of Yin energy, hoping to engulf the scientist.

"I quite agree!" shouted Lucifer, leaping into the air to dodge the assault. Holding his scythe with only his right hand, he ripped off his right shoulder plate, revealing it to be some sort of spiked, dome-shaped contraption with a handle on the flat side. The scientist depressed a button, causing the spiked dome to fly forward, revealing it to be connected to the handle by a thin beam of purple electricity. While the spikes were still not strong enough to completely pierce Diablos' armour, the tip of the longest spike managed to make a small hole, and that was enough. Instantly, a change came over Diablos; the beam of Yin energy ceased as Diablos tilted his head back and roared in agony as pain wracked his body. The Yin crystals in his claws shone more brightly than ever before, nearly blinding the Reploids.

"No!" yelled Kardina, intent on assisting his master. However, even as Kardina drew his KZ-Busters and began to squeeze the triggers, Lucifer drew his scythe across his chest, then flung the scythe out to his right. The flat of the blade struck Kardina's hands, forcing him to drop the weapons. The scythe then flew back to Lucifer, who easily caught it as he finally ceased using the strange contraption and drew it back towards him, replacing his right shoulder plate. Diablos was now clearly in no position to fight, rocking back and forth unsteadily.

"Admit defeat, Diablos!" Lucifer landed on the ground and twirled his scythe above his head. Charging forward, the black Reploid leaped, his scythe at the ready, with the tip pointing backwards. Holding it at about waist level to his right, Lucifer brought the blade across in a mighty diagonal sweep to his upper-left; Kardina could have sworn he'd seen the blade glow strangely at just the very instant when the slash was dealt. This time there could be seen a rather deep cut in the armour; while not enough to actually damage Diablos' internal systems, to the already exhausted Diablos it was a heavy blow. For a moment he stayed motionless; then the titan finally keeled over tumbling facefirst to the ground.

"Gah... How could... I lose... Impossible...!"

Lucifer twirled the scythe over his head again and slammed the pole of the scythe into the ground beside him in triumph. "Now, call back your forces and stop the security drones assailing the Hunter elites, or I shall land the final blow and continue on!"

There was an intense staring contest, eye to eye, before Diablos finally gave in. "You win..." Wearily raising a claw, it hovered over to a nearby panel that had amazingly come out unscathed, where it pressed a button, issuing the order to retreat. Without question, the Yin Reploids did so.

"Good. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to uphold my side of the bargain," Lucifer said as he walked through the slowly-opening doors.

"Lucifer! You made it!" X said, breathing a sigh of relief as he brushed off some of the marks the security drones had left behind in their battle.

"Well done. Say, have you terminated Diablos?" Another Hunter asked.

"No... Though I did beat him to a pulp," Lucifer replied.

At this, Zero reddened with anger. "What! Why didn't you kill him?"

"Well, I did prove my superiority... And I made him recall his forces and the drones, you know."

"Why you- Fool! You should have-"

"Whoa, whoa, calm down, Zero. It's all but a victory, anyway."

"_All but_ is not good enough! Bah, fine!" With this last word, Zero teleported out, followed by the rest of the Hunters.

Looking at the Hunters' retreating figures, Kardina asked, "Master? What do we do now?"

"We lost this battle... But there's still the war," Diablos commented wearily. "I must rest, now."

- TELEPORTER ROOM, MAVERICK HUNTER HEADQUARTERS, 0952 HRS -

As the Hunter strike team materialised within the room, the doors opened and Signas came in. "Well done. Now Diablos will-"

As he said so, Lucifer suddenly lurched forward and was barely caught in time by X. "Quick, get him to the medical bay and the Lifesavers!" The Lightbot ordered, and the other Hunters obeyed, carrying him away.

Worried, X said, "I don't like what that meant... I thought he achieved overwhelming victory against Diablos? He had no obvious damage!"

"Me neither..." Signas said. "We must hope for the best, however. Perhaps it is merely fatigue."

- MEDICAL BAY, MAVERICK HUNTER HEADQUARTERS, 0956 HRS -

"What? Are you certain?" Signas asked worriedly. 

Lifesavor nodded. "It appears that he has sustained moderate internal injuries. He'll have to be out of action for at least a week, if he is to fully recover and not have future relapses."

X objected, "Isn't there a way to speed up his recoveries?"

Lifesavor turned his steely gaze upon X. "Whoever made Lucifer was no run-of-the-mill factory worker. While certainly uncomparable with Wily or Dr. Light, Lucifer's creator certainly had a unique style. It's proving a tad more difficult than usual to analyse and repair him. As a result... We have no choice, X. We're already doing our best."

"Okay," X said, downcast. "Still... In a week, Diablos will have recovered! His forces will surely continue their conquest! What are we to do, then?"

Signas replied, "What we always do, X... Fight, and pray." Still, that answer didn't reassure the general.

- GLOCKOPOLIS, NORWAY, 1005 HRS -

A figure, cloaked in a light-blue trenchcoat, walked into the great cavern that housed Glockopolis. Sniffing the air apprehensively, he said, more to the air than himself, "The Yin energy has a strong presence here. And it seems to originate from..." He lifted his right hand and pointed that hand's index finger in the general direction of the Crimson Palace. "There." With that, a light blue warp laser formed and the figure was gone.

- OUTER COMPOUND, CRIMSON PALACE, 1007 HRS -

The light blue warp laser made its reappearance on the extreme outskirts of the Crimson Palace. The trenchcoat-wearing Reploid solidified and hit the ground spread-eagled, slowly raising his head to look out for signs of Diablos' Yin Reploids. After satisfying himself that no one was watching, he slowly came to a sitting position. Flipping his trenchcoat inside out, he put it back on as the inner active camouflage material constantly adapted to any changes in the immediate surroundings. The Reploid now lay down and leopard-crawled his way up to a low wall, from which he observed the Yin Reploids guarding the back door into the Crimson Palace. As he attempted to gain a better resting position for his head, however, the hilt of his massive katana chipped at the stone flooring, making some noise. He cursed under his breath as one of the guards said, "Did you hear that?"  
"Yeah, I think I did," his companion replied. "We'd better check-"

Before he could say further, however, the trenchcoated Reploid stood up abruptly. "An intruder!" The second guard said.

"Quickly, we must capture him!" the first said. As he ran towards the trenchcoated swordsman, his mate following closely behind, however, the intruder did something the guards completely didn't expect. The foe reached out his hands and swiftly crushed the neck of the first guard. Before the second guard could call for reinforcements, the intruder closed the gap between the two and gave him a mighty sucker punch.

As the guards fell, the intruder caught them both. Carefully placing the dead guards at their stations, the intruder fumbled in the guards' pockets a bit, then pulled out a keycard and inserted it into a slot, allowing him access into the Crimson Palace.

- GAOL, CRIMSON PALACE, 1013 HRS -

Shadowsong Accelerando Wily was getting bored with things inside his Yin Energy cell. Sure, Diablos had given him liquid nourishment through a little pipe of sorts, but he was still a prisoner, and he knew that. As he stared out the translucent purple Yin Energy into the faintly-lit room, he thought he heard a thump, a noise of things falling apart. Or was it his fertile imagination? He had, after all, been locked in here for heaven knows when. Perhaps he was hallucinating. Yes, it was a nice hallucination. His mind telling him there was rescue for him. Oh, what a nice dream-

And his dream of sorts was shattered when the only door into the room fell down to reveal a figure silhouetted in darkness. This figure purposefully strode over to the cell and paused before it. Then, a light appeared in his left hand, which he used to contact the Yin Energy with. After a short bout of concentration, during which the light slowly but surely overcame the purple energy, Accel was free. The figure caught him in his hands and put him down.

Looking up, Accel knew who his rescuer was. The enigmatic swordsman who had previously declared him a "Yin Reploid". "Heh, had a change of heart, did you?"

The figure bowed his head in shame. "I was wrong. You really have no traces of the Yin Energy in you. After all, there is honour amongst Yin Reploids. They do not imprison their comrades."

Nodding, Accel asked, "So, who are you?"

"My name..." The figure lifted his head up, allowing Accel to see himself in the mirrored lenses of the trenchcoat-wearing Reploid's shades. "...is Moonblade."

* * *

Mehehe! Please R+R! 


End file.
